The Return of Rose
by cheri1
Summary: 10Rose with Donna and Martha. My story dealing with Rose's return to Doctor Who. FINISHED
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Martha slammed the TARDIS doors shut and collapsed against them, exhausted.

"I swear I will never get used to this as long as I live." She said.

"Hey, least you got a bit more practice. I've only been traveling with him for nine months." Donna said to her.

"Trust me, it doesn't get any easier." Martha replied.

"Excuse me, but do my ears detect bickering?" the Doctor said as he stood at the console. "Come on, the Sontarans weren't as bad as all that. We've faced much worse than them. Now get away from the door and come and have a sit down while I figure out our next destination."

The two women glanced at each other and walked over to the captain's chair.

"That's better." The Doctor said smiling at them. "Now, where do you wanna go next?"

Martha and Donna looked at each other.

"How 'bout we go somewhere where we won't have to worry about getting shot, stabbed, burned, beaten or buried alive?" Donna said.

The Doctor frowned at that.

"Then, how would we have fun?" he asked her.

Donna stared at him.

"You know, its times like that I regretted rethinking my decision to travel with ya." She said. "I knew you were unstable but I didn't realize you were this much of a blinkin' basket case."

"Donna, I'm hurt. I thought you enjoyed our adventures so far. I thought you wanted to get out and walk in the dust."

"Walk in the dust, not be buried under it!"

The Doctor chuckled.

"Alright, we'll go somewhere nice and take a break. You're right, we've earned it." He said.

"Thank you." Donna said, sighing.

"So, where to?" the Doctor asked turning and leaning against the console. "We have all of time and space to choose from."

Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"What'd you think?" Donna asked her.

"Hmmm, not sure. Vegas sounds lovely. Maybe do a bit of gambling?" Martha mused.

"Or…Paris. Never been to Paris before." Donna added.

Martha smiled at her.

"Could go to Rome." She said, nudging her.

"Oh no, had quite enough of Rome for one lifetime, thank you." Donna said as Martha laughed.

They glanced up at the Doctor who was staring at them impatiently.

"I'm waiting." He said to them.

"Well, what do you recommend?" Martha said.

"Oh hell, don't ask him, next thing ya know we'll be marching up the side of a volcano so we can be sacrificed to some tribe's god." Donna said.

"Nah, we won't do anything like that. I'll save something like that for a special occasion." The Doctor said.

Donna stared at him trying to figure out if he was serious or not.

"Don't even try." Martha said guessing what she was doing. "I can't tell and I've been around him a lot longer than you have. You just have to hope that he is pulling your leg."

They looked over at the Doctor who was punching coordinates into the computer.

"What are you doing?" Martha asked.

"Choosing a destination."

"And it is…" Donna said.

"Cocoleus Droxeminus." The Doctor said.

"And that is…" Donna said.

"A pleasure planet." The Doctor replied. "The whole planet is one big resort with spas, restaurants, theaters, carnivals. Basically, all the good things in life are on it. I figure we can go there and we can all pick and choose how we want to relax."

"Sounds good to me." Donna said.

"Me too. It sounds lovely."

"Oh it is. One of the most beautiful planets in the universe as well as one of the most luxurious. I've been to it a couple of times with Rose and---"

He trailed off into silence. Martha and Donna glanced at each other. It wasn't the first time the Doctor had caught himself after he started to mention Rose. Both women knew that even though it had been a couple of years since they were separated, the longing for Rose was still there and the pain of their separation was just as fresh as it had been the day it had happened. Donna had only gotten bits and pieces of her when she first met the Doctor, but she would never forget the heartbreaking look on his face when he had finally told her Rose's name. Since then, Martha had filled her in on what she had learned when she last traveled with the Doctor. Both women were careful never to talk about her when they knew the Doctor was in earshot.

As for Martha, the break from her travels with him had helped her to get over the obsessive crush she had and she now considered him a very dear friend. She knew that Rose would always be first place in his hearts and she accepted that. She had told the Doctor after defeating the Daleks that there was someone for everyone and she believed that. It just turned out that her someone wasn't the Doctor. That was okay. All she cared about was her friend's happiness.

They watched as the Doctor cleared his throat and composed himself.

"Anyway," he said smiling. "It's a wonderful place. You'll like it."

Both women nodded and waited until the Doctor was turned back to the console before they gave each other a knowing look.

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(Meanwhile, a universe away…)

Rose sat at her desk sorting through the mound of paperwork. There had been another reported UFO sighting and she was looking at the reports from agents trying to determine what it might be. With two years of traveling with the Doctor under her belt and seeing all the things she had seen, she had proven indispensable when it came to identifying different alien species. Her knowledge of alien civilizations had allowed her to go from being a field agent to being a supervisor in just under a year. With the promotion came a hefty paycheck and she had been able to move into a modest little apartment several miles from Jackie and Pete's mansion. Her home wasn't as lavish as their house, but it was hers and she loved it. She was finally able to lie in her bedroom at night and not have to hear Jackie and Pete having sex across the hall. She could come and go as she pleased and she could have friends over whenever she wanted.

She sighed. She would give anything though to be back in the TARDIS with the Doctor. She missed him so much she physically ached sometimes. It had been almost two years now and she still hadn't gotten over him. She doubted if she ever would. He was a big part of her life and the first person she had given her heart completely to. Mickey had tried to reconnect with her, but she was no longer interested in him. After being with the Doctor, what other man could compare? For the moment, she was single and she preferred it that way.

Rose put her head in her hand as she read over a report. She kept hoping against hope that there was a Doctor in this reality and she checked each report with that thought in her mind, but so far nothing matched the description of him or the TARDIS. Still, she wouldn't give up. Somehow, someday she would be with him again either in the other reality or in this one. She remembered the Doctor telling her never say never ever and she kept repeating those words over and over in her head until now they played through her mind constantly like a skipping record.

She finished up the reports and picked up the telephone. She dialed a two-digit number.

"Zack Smith, please." He said to her boss's receptionist.

She waited a moment and then heard him pick up his phone.

"Hey, Zack, it's Rose." She said. "I got the reports and I'm still trying to figure out what they are. So far, nothing matches anything I know about. I just wanted to let you know what was going on since it's almost quitting time."

She paused.

"Yeah, I'll let you know first thing tomorrow morning if I've come up with anything. Yeah, you have a good night too. Bye."

She hung up the phone, put the reports back in their manila file and prepared to go home for the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"See ya later, Terrance!" Rose said waving as she walked out of the building into the parking lot.

As she walked towards her car, she fumbled through her purse and finally found her keys. She pulled them out and pressed the car alarm button, deactivating it. She reached her car and put the key in the lock. Suddenly, a blinding, bright light surrounded her. Rose gasped and shielded her eyes from it. As she tried to get away from the light, she suddenly felt her feet leave the ground. She let out a terrified scream as she felt herself being pulled away from the ground and hurtled up into the air towards the waiting UFO above.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The light faded and Rose reeled back as she tried to make her eyes see again. It took a moment for her sight to return, but even then it wasn't much good because the room she was standing in was pitch black.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out hesitantly.

She gasped as a bright light was switched on and she was momentarily blinded again. Blinking, she held her hand up to her eyes and looked around. Finally, her eyes adjusted to the light and she saw two aliens standing in front of her. They were reptilian in nature with dark purple skin and reptilian yellow eyes. Both of them were wearing long, black robes with a wide gold stripe down the front. They flicked their tongues in and out tasting the air around them.

"Who are you?" Rose asked.

"I am Triton and this is Pelios. We are Arcadians." The alien hissed.

"Arcadians. Why does that sound so familiar?" Rose muttered.

Then it hit her. The Cult of Skaro back at Canary Wharf. When the Doctor was talking to them...

_I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that._

"Arcadia. That's your home world, isn't it?" Rose said to them.

"Very good, Rose Tyler." Triton replied.

Rose frowned.

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"We know much about the Doctor." Pelios said.

Rose's heart stopped. These Arcadians knew her Doctor? Could they be from the other dimension?"

"You have traveled with him." Pelios added.

He lifted his hand and extended it in front of him. Rose gasped as her body began to glow with a golden aura.

"You carry an imprint of the artron energy from his ship." Pelios said. "That is how we were able to track you."

He lowered his hand and the glow stopped.

"But, if you know the Doctor, then that means you are from the other dimension?" Rose asked.

"Correct, Rose Tyler."

"Then, how did you get here? The Doctor said travel between the voids would destroy both universes."

"We have ways of crossing the void harmlessly. Our kind harnessed the secrets of void travel millennia ago." Triton said. "The Time Lords were not the only ones capable of that kind of travel."

"Then, why are you here? What do you want with me?" Rose asked.

"Revenge!" Triton said.

Rose frowned.

"Revenge? I've done nothing to you. I've never even met you until now." She protested.

"We want revenge against the Doctor for what he did to our planet." Pelios said.

Rose's heart leapt to her throat.

"Wait! I know that the Doctor fought on your world in the Time War and-"

"Precisely, it was because of him and his petty Time War that our world was reduced to fire and rubble." Triton said.

"No wait, listen, the Doctor did what he had to do to save the universe. He regrets what happened to your world, I know he does. I heard him say so."

"We are not concerned with how he feels. We only wish to see him suffer for what he did." Pelios hissed. "It was because of him that I lost my mate and my offspring."

"As did I." Triton added. "The Doctor gave no thought to us or our kind. All he cared about was destroying the Daleks any way he could. He rampaged through our cities and villages leaving devastation in his wake. And then he moved on not caring about the lives that were lost or the families that were destroyed. He cares for no one except himself."

"That's not true. The Doctor is sorry, really he is." Rose said desperately. "Please, you have to believe me. He mourns all the lives that were lost in the Time War."

"Odd, he didn't stop to mourn after he got done leveling my village." Pelios sneered. "He just walked away without a second look."

"Oh God, Doctor, that can't be the truth." Rose murmured to herself. "You aren't like that. You wouldn't just destroy a village without a good reason. They have to be lying."

She looked at Triton and Pelios who were regarding her silently.

"Why did you abduct me? Where do I fit in all this? I wasn't even with him during the Time War. I didn't know him then."

"It doesn't matter if you knew him then or not. What matters is you are valuable to him." Triton said.

Rose's heart skipped a beat.

"No, please, if you're thinking of killing me to get back at him, please reconsider." Rose pleaded.

"We will not kill you." Pelios said.

"Then, what will happen to me?"

"You will be taken back over the void with us. You will become bait to lure the Doctor into our trap and then we shall have our revenge." Triton said.

"No, please, leave him alone." Rose said. "I've changed my mind. Kill me, just don't hurt him."

Her eyes widened as Triton walked towards her. She tried to back away, but Triton raised his hand and she felt herself being dragged towards him. An unknown force pulled her to his hand. It closed around her neck and she stood still trying not to flinch as Triton stared at her with his cold, reptilian eyes.

"After the destruction of our world, we started tracking the Doctor's TARDIS with our ship. For the longest time, he managed to elude us by traveling through time and space. But, finally we located him by a supernova. He was using the energy from it to send a transmission. A transmission to you. We listened in while he was telling you goodbye and we heard you tell him that you love him." Triton said.

Rose's blood ran cold. She swallowed hard as Triton leaned in to her face.

"You care for him and I suspect he cares for you just as deeply or he wouldn't have destroyed a sun to get in contact with you. Wouldn't it be a shame if he lost you the same way we lost our families?" he hissed.

"No, don't do this to him. He did what he had to do. He had to save the universe. You're not the only planet that was affected."

"We don't care about the other planets. We don't care about the Doctor or the Daleks or you. We care about our kind and anyone who hurts and destroys our kind will be hurt and destroyed in turn. The Doctor made a fatal mistake when he picked our planet as a battlefield. Now, he will reap the consequences of his actions and we will watch as the destroyer of our world is himself destroyed."

She gasped as Triton tightened his grip around her throat.

"And you will help us to bring about his destruction and then…you too will die."

Rose closed her eyes in anguish. She had dreamed about being reunited with the Doctor, but not like this. She wished more than anything she had some way to warn him. She knew as soon as he learned that she was being held captive, there would be nothing to stop him from trying to rescue her.

She gasped as Triton threw her to the floor.

"We go now to cross the void. Until that time, you will stay in here as our prisoner." Triton hissed.

She gasped when he put his hands against the sides of her head.

"Now sleep, doomed mate of the Doctor."

Rose felt electricity course through her head and then her world went black. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell back to the floor unconscious.

Pelios came up beside Triton as he stared down at her.

"Will the Doctor come for this human child?" he asked Triton.

Triton nodded.

"He will come. She is precious to him. He will not let her be sacrificed. We have what we came for and now our revenge can finally begin. Come, my brother, it is time to put our plan into motion and when it is all done, the Doctor will lay dead at our feet at last."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Here we are, Cocolemus Droxeminus." The Doctor said.

He and Martha and Donna stepped outside the TARDIS and looked around. It was a bright sunny day and everywhere they looked they could see huge domed buildings. Around the buildings people were swimming in pools or playing sports or sitting at tables drinking and eating and laughing. Martha and Donna looked at each other.

"Finally, a destination I can actually enjoy." Donna said.

"I wouldn't relax just yet. Knowing the Doctor, something sinister will probably happen eventu---"

She was cut short when Donna slammed her hand over Martha's mouth.

"Don't even say it." She hissed at her. "Don't jinx the place for us, alright?"

Martha glared at her when she took her hand away. After she had helped Jack out at Torchwood, she had finally decided she was ready to go back to traveling with the Doctor and had called him. When he arrived, she had been surprised to learn that he was already traveling with someone else. After getting over the initial shock of seeing another woman in the TARDIS, she managed to strike up a friendship with Donna, but there were still times when the headstrong woman got on her nerves.

"Come along, guys, check in is this way." The Doctor said pointing to a huge domed building in front of them.

The three of them walked towards it. As they neared the entrance, Donna gasped when someone came up behind her and threw his arms around her.

"Hey, there gorgeous," he said in a drunken slur. "You with anyone?"

Donna turned and she was taken aback when she saw it was a huge alien with long shaggy brown hair. To Donna, he looked like a cross between Chewbacca and Cousin Itt from the Addams Family.

"Oi! Get your paws off me, you walking wig!" Donna shrieked at him.

"Hey, I'm only trying to…"

He hiccupped.

"Only trying to hook up with ya. You wanna go for a little stroll with me?"

"No! I'm not interested." Donna protested.

"Aw, come on, babe. What's wrong, you don't like hairy men? Too stuck up to date a Charzolian, are you? Just come for a little walk. Come on, it'll be fun."

"Look…mister, she's not interested in you!" Martha said coming up beside Donna.

"Ooo, who's your friend? Maybe we can have a little three way later!" the Charzolian said, winking.

"I'm sorry to butt in," the Doctor said coming up beside Martha. "But, I believe my friend said she wasn't interested in you. Why don't you go find someone else to walk with?"

"Hey, buddy, who asked ya!" the Charzolian said jabbing his finger in the Doctor's chest. "I'm trying to ask this lovely lady out on a date, so just buzz off!"

"I'm afraid you can't ask either one of them out." The Doctor said.

"Oh yeah, and why not?"

"Um, because…they're part of my harem."

"What?" the Charzolian, Donna and Martha said in unison.

"That's right, they're a part of my harem." The Doctor said. "I am an extremely rich intergalactic playboy who has amassed tons and tons of women for my sexual pleasure. I come here frequently to have fun with my nubile slaves and these two came up next in the schedule. Now, unless you want to be one of my many eunuch guards, I'm afraid you can't have any contact with them. Now, please, move along before I summon the police."

The Charzolian glared at him for a moment and then, muttering, he stumbled off towards the pool. Donna and Martha looked at him.

"Harem?" Martha said.

"That's right, you're my harem girls." The Doctor said grinning.

He took a deep breath.

"Now that we've gotten that bit of unpleasant business out of the way, let's go inside and get ourselves checked in. Now come along, my nubile slave girls."

He gave them an evil grin and winked when Martha and Donna shot him a look. They looked at each other as they walked up to the door and followed him inside.

"Good afternoon, welcome to the Golden Narzdolac." The concierge said as they entered the lobby. "Are all of you checking in together?"

"Yes, we are." The Doctor said.

"I see. Well, let's see what rooms are available. What credit range are you shooting for?"

"I want the works. Give me the most expensive holiday package you have."

The concierge beamed.

"Yes, sir." He said happily.

They watched as he brought up a holographic screen and ran his hand over a silver panel in front of it. Alien language scrolled up the screen as the concierge stared at it intently.

"We have the executive package, sir. This includes room, three meals and access to any place or activity on Cocolemus Droxeminus for one week." He said looking at the Doctor. "Would that be to your liking?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind." The Doctor replied.

The concierge beamed again.

"VERY good sir." He said. "That will be 10,000 credits for you and your companions."

Martha's eyes widened as Donna let out a soft whistle. The Doctor, however, was unfazed. He whipped his credit stick out of the pocket of his blue suit and handed it to the concierge. The concierge stuck it in the hole of the scanner and smiled when he saw that it cleared. He handed it back to the Doctor with an even wider smile on his face.

"If there is anything you or your companions need, sir, PLEASE do not hesitate to ask staff. We are at your beck and call here."

"Thank you, but at the moment I think we just want to go up to our rooms," the Doctor said.

The concierge frowned.

"Rooms, sir? The executive package only comes with one room."

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"It…does." He said.

"Yes, sir," the concierge said as Donna and Martha looked at each other. "I thought that was what you and your partners were looking for. The bed is of course large enough for the three of you."

The Doctor turned crimson as Donna and Martha snickered.

"There are of course sexual toys and implements in the room for your use." The concierge added.

Donna and Martha nudged each other as the Doctor turned even redder.

"Ooo, sounds interesting." Martha said as Donna giggled.

"We also offer various pornographic films on the holovision as well as erotic candy filled with aphrodisiac. There is also a nude beach up the road if you are interested and---"

"Can I get a second room?" the Doctor said quickly.

The concierge frowned.

"You wish to change rooms?" he said.

"No, I wish to get a second room. The two women behind me are not my partners. We're just friends."

The concierge reddened.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir, a thousand apologies." He said as Martha and Donna guffawed. "Of course, you can have another room. It's just that we're very open here to every kind of pairing and it's not uncommon for people to bring in two and three or more partners here."

"Wow, sounds kinky." Donna whispered to Martha.

The concierge quickly brought up the room information again.

"There is a room with two beds down the hall from yours, sir." He said looking at him nervously. "Would you like that one?"

"Yes, that will be fine." The Doctor said handing him his credit stick.

The concierge scanned it.

"Aw, come on, Doctor. After all, we shared a bed back when we met Shakespeare remember?" Martha said poking him in the back.

She and Donna giggled as the Doctor shot her a dirty look.

"Here you go, sir, a thousand, thousand apologies." The concierge said handing him back his credit stick. "I hope you won't hold that against me. It was an honest mistake."

"No, I understand completely." The Doctor said shrugging. "You run a resort, it's the nature of the beast. No hard feelings whatsoever."

The concierge relaxed visibly at that.

"Thank you, sir," he said relieved. "It's not often we get big spenders like you and I don't want to upset such a generous soul."

"Nah, you didn't upset me." The Doctor said griming amicably.

The concierge smiled back. He quickly motioned for a man standing nearby.

"Rudolk, take these guests up to their rooms." He said handing him the key cards.

He smiled as the Doctor, Martha and Donna turned and followed Rudolk.

"Have a pleasant day, sir." He said cheerfully.

"You too." The Doctor said, looking back.

"Ugh," Donna muttered. "The way he was acting, I'm surprised the slimy git didn't get down on his hands and knees, kiss your arse and lick your shoes."

"Give em time, I'm sure that'll happen eventually." The Doctor said with a gleam in his eye.

They followed Rudolk into the open elevator and turned around as the doors closed.

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"I have him."

Pelios looked over at his brother as they neared Cocolemus Droxeminus.

"He is here."

"Yes, I have detected the TARDIS."

"Excellent. Now hone in on his artron energy signature and then we'll pull him inside the ship." Triton said.

Pelios nodded as he began to lower the ship down to the planet's surface.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

There was a ding and the elevator door slid open.

"This way, sir." Rudolk said looking back at the others.

"Finally, some relaxation!" Donna said as they stepped out into the corridor.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. The Doctor, Donna and Martha reeled back, blinded.

"What's going on?" Martha said. "Doctor, what is this?"

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She screamed along with the others as they were pulled out of the building and up into the air.

A few minutes later, the bright light faded and they were in a pitch-black room.

"What the hell was that?" Donna said feeling the air around her. "Are we in our rooms now?"

"Somehow, I doubt it." She heard the Doctor say.

She felt around and finally felt his back.

"What is this? Where are we?" she asked him.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we're gonna find out very soon." The Doctor replied.

Donna jumped when she felt someone touch her.

"It's alright, it's me." Martha said.

Donna let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly a light switched on. The three of them blinked and walked around in a circle. When their eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed seven purple skinned reptiles sitting in chairs in a semi-circle in front of them.

"Okay, who are these guys?" Donna said gesturing to them.

The Doctor swallowed hard.

"Arcadians." He said grimly.

Martha looked at him.

"Is that bad?" she asked.

"It might be for me." The Doctor replied.

"What does that mean?" Donna said. "Are they evil? Are they gonna hurt us?"

"Silence, human!"

The three of them watched as the Arcadian in the middle stood up.

"My name is Triton." He said. "We have summoned you here, Doctor, to this hearing to stand trial for the crime of planetary devastation and homicide."

Martha and Donna looked at the Doctor who was now white as a sheet.

"Doctor, what does he mean?" Martha asked him.

"I said, silence, human!" Triton roared. "You lesser beings will not speak during this hearing. Only the Doctor is allowed to speak in his defense."

"Oi! You just can't kidnap us and stick us in a room and tell us to be quiet!" Donna said. "I wanna know what's going---"

"Donna, be quiet," the Doctor hissed at her. "before they throw you out of the ship!"

Donna fell silent as the Doctor sighed and stepped forward.

"Doctor, you are charged with homicide and planetary devastation. How do you plead?" Triton said.

"Look, you don't understand---" the Doctor said.

"How do you plead?" Triton repeated.

"I did what I had to do to----"

"HOW DO YOU PLEAD?" Triton roared at him.

The Doctor sighed.

"Guilty." He said sadly.

Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"You admit you did murder my people and destroyed my planet?" Triton said.

"I admit that deaths occurred and the planet was ruined. But, please, let me explain." The Doctor said holding his hands out. "I didn't mean for it to happen. The Daleks would have overrun your planet if I hadn't stopped them. I did what I had to do to protect the universe."

"You killed us, Doctor. You and your little war nearly caused our extinction. There are only a handful of us left now and we are adrift without a home. You are the reason we are homeless now."

"I know and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The Doctor said dully. "You are not the only ones who suffered. I too lost my planet and my people. I lost everyone I cared about and every day I suffer for it. But, if I hadn't fought the Daleks, the entire universe would be devastated now. Don't think for one moment I don't regret what happened to your world, I do, but there is nothing I can do about it now. If I had the power to bring back your families and friends I would. All I can say is I'm sorry and please forgive me for what I had to do."

"There is no forgiveness here, Doctor." Triton said as the others nodded in agreement. "What you have done is beyond forgiveness. All that we can offer you is death."

Martha and Donna gasped and came to the Doctor's side. Triton looked at them.

"I assume these are your current companions then." He said.

He extended his arm and Martha and Donna's eyes widened as all three of them began to glow.

"Yes, they possess the artron energy signature. That is why they were pulled in with you." he muttered

He lowered his hand and the glow faded.

"If you travel with these two, you are no longer interested in Rose Tyler?" Triton asked him.

Martha and Donna looked at each other. They looked at the Doctor who was now staring at Triton with steely eyes and a clenched jaw.

"Oh boy, I think lizard boy just said the wrong thing." Donna muttered to Martha.

"That is not your concern." The Doctor said coldly to Triton.

"You have no feelings for Rose Tyler anymore?" Triton asked.

"I said…that is not your concern!" the Doctor said angrily.

They watched as Triton walked over to a door. He opened it and whispered to someone outside. The Doctor glanced at Donna and Martha.

"Are they gonna let us go?" Martha asked him.

"Dunno. But, trust me. I'm gonna do my best to talk them out of killing us." The Doctor replied. "Just keep quiet and---"

He stopped talking when someone was pulled into the room. Martha and Donna watched as they dragged a blonde haired woman over to Triton's chair and made her kneel in front of it. She was groggy and dazed. There was a gag over her mouth and her hands were tied behind her back.

"No, it can't be."

Donna and Martha looked up at the Doctor and saw that his skin was now beyond white. They stared at him, confused, as he swallowed hard and his eyes misted over.

"It can't be you, it can't be. It's impossible." He murmured.

Martha stared at him for a moment. Then suddenly she had an idea who the woman might be. Her suspicions were confirmed when he heard the Doctor murmur.

"My Rose, it's you. Oh, Rassilon, it's really you."

Donna glanced at him and looked at Rose.

"I thought she was stuck in another dimension." She whispered to Martha.

"I thought she was too." Martha whispered back.

They watched as Rose raised her head and saw the Doctor. Tears came to her eyes as she stared at him sadly. They looked over at the Doctor as he started to walk towards Rose.

"Stay there or she dies." Triton said whipping a knife out of his robe.

The Doctor paused. Donna and Martha looked at him and both of them were taken aback at the look in his eyes. Both his eyes were coal black and murderous. His fists clenched and his body shook with barely contained rage. Both Martha and Donna backed up at the sight of it.

"Let her go." He said between clenched teeth.

"Do you still care for her, Doctor?" Triton asked dispassionately.

At that, Rose looked at him. Martha and Donna looked at the Doctor and saw him looking back at her with complete love in his eyes.

"Yes, I love her." He said.

They looked over at Rose who now had tears streaming down her face. Martha put her hand over her mouth, anguished at the sight of the Doctor's pain at seeing Rose in tears. She saw now why she never stood a chance with the Doctor, the look of love and devotion he was giving her was something she had only seen in romantic movies. Martha looked at Triton who was staring at the Doctor's anguish with amusement and rage flooded her mind as she longed to wipe the smile off his face.

She and Donna glanced over at the Doctor as he began to move towards Rose.

"Rose." He murmured as he held out a hand to her.

"Stop, Doctor, I am warning you!" Triton said. "Rose Tyler will die if you take another step."

The Doctor froze in his tracks.

"Please, let me hold her." He said to him.

Triton smirked. He ran his clawed finger down Rose's left cheek.

"How does it feel, Doctor, having the one you love near you and not being able to touch her? Do you long to hold her close and kiss her face? Now you know the pain that we feel whenever we long to hold the ones you killed."

"I told you, I'm sorry for what's happened. I can't undo what has been done, no matter how much I want to. I understand your pain and suffering, but revenge is not the answer. Killing me or Rose or my friends will not bring back the ones you lost."

"No, it will not bring them back. But, knowing that the destroyer of our world is dead will bring us the justice that we crave."

"Then, let Rose go. Let her go with Martha and Donna. Send them back to the resort and do what you want to me."

Rose let out a muffled cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shook her head furiously. The Doctor looked at her and started to move towards her before he caught himself. Martha had to restrain herself when she saw the heartbreaking look of anguish in his eyes. She knew he wanted more than anything to go to Rose and comfort her and the fact that he couldn't was torturing him more deeply than any device could. This fact was not lost on Triton who was shaking with barely contained laughter.

"On the contrary, I have a much better idea. A little game of sorts." Triton said gleefully.

The Doctor's face instantly became hard and his eyes became cold.

"What kind of game?" He growled.

"Have you heard of Gargumenta?" Triton asked him.

"Yes." The Doctor replied.

"Are you aware of the war going on then between the Gargumens and their sworn enemies, the Lox?"

"Yes, the war has been going on for some time now." The Doctor replied.

"That it has. Death and devastation reign over the planet and there isn't a single family that hasn't had someone die fighting the Lox. Much the same scenario as Arcadia, which makes it fitting that your punishment for destroying our world is having to search for Rose in the middle of all that fighting."

The color drained from the Doctor's face.

"No." he said in a hushed voice.

"Yes, Rose will be sent to that war torn planet while you and your friends will be sent back to your TARDIS. After which, you can use it to fly there and search for her. I warn you though; we will put a collar on her, which will hide her artron energy signature from your scanners. Don't want to make it too easy to find her."

"Please, I'm begging you, don't do this. Rose is innocent. She's done nothing to you."

"Exactly, just like our families and friends did nothing to you, but that didn't stop you from killing them." Triton said.

The Doctor stared at him with utter hate.

"I'm warning you, don't do this." He growled at them. "If Rose dies, you'll live to regret it!"

Triton said nothing. He grabbed Rose by her arms and forced her to her feet. He quickly grabbed her around the middle when she tried to run to the Doctor.

"Sorry, Rose Tyler, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till the Doctor gets through the war zone and finds you before you can feel his arms around you." He hissed in her ear. "If…he gets through the war zone, that is."

"Rose!" the Doctor said as Triton started to pull her away from him.

He started to run towards her and gasped when two other members of the hearing grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away. The last three members grabbed Martha and Donna and pulled them away with him.

"Rose! I'll find you, I swear! Just trust in me! I won't let you die!" the Doctor screamed at her as he was dragged from the room.

Rose tried to wiggle free from Triton's grasp as he opened the door. She stared at the Doctor with longing as he was pulled from the room kicking and screaming her name. Then, suddenly, she felt something hard come down on the top of her head and the Doctor's anguished scream was the last thing she heard as she slipped into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Donna grunted as she slammed down onto the floor. She grunted again when Martha and the Doctor landed on top of her. The light from the tractor beam faded and they saw they were lying on the floor in the corridor of the hotel.

"Ugh, I think every rib in my bloody body just broke." She muttered.

As they struggled to get up, the Doctor leapt off the top and ran to a nearby window. He looked out it at the sky watching with sinking hearts as the Arcadian's ship disappeared into the clouds.

"Rose." He murmured putting his hand against the glass.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around at Martha.

"We'll find her." She said to him.

The Doctor stared at her. He looked at Donna who was standing behind her with a concerned look on her face. He shook his head.

"No." he said.

Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"No, what do you mean, no?" Martha asked.

"You're not going with me." The Doctor said.

"Excuse me?" Martha said.

"It's too dangerous for you. Gargumenta is war torn and both the Gargumen and the Lox are fierce fighters. If they capture you, they'll show no mercy. I can't let either of you take that risk. Just stay here and use the rooms. Enjoy yourselves and have fun and I'll be back to pick you up when I find Rose."

"P'eh, forget it, mister. I'm coming with you." Martha said.

"Martha."

"Doctor, it's a war zone, you're gonna need my medical training in case you get hurt."

"Yeah, and…well, I really don't have anything except my big mouth, but I still wanna come." Donna said.

"Guys, I appreciate the offer, but I'd feel a lot better if you both stayed here." The Doctor said. "It's gonna be bad enough going through all that fighting searching for Rose without worrying about you two every moment."

"Doctor," Martha said putting her hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate your concern. I love that you want me to be safe, but if you recall, I was the one who walked the Earth and helped save you from the Master. I had more hardship in that year than I have in a lifetime so a war zone is nothing to me now. I want to help."

"And," Donna said putting her hand on his other shoulder. "I went up against a giant spider, survived Pompeii and just helped you guys kick the Sontarans asses. I'm no pansy either. I can more than hold my own in a war. So, count me in too."

The Doctor stared at them both with unmasked pride in his eyes.

"All right, I see there's no stopping you, but I want to warn you both. We have to stick together. If we get separated out there, we might not be able to find one another so keep close to me, is that understood?"

Donna and Martha nodded.

"Okay, let's get to it then. Every second we waste means Rose is out there in jeopardy."

Donna looked at Martha as the Doctor walked over to the elevator.

"Bye bye relaxing holiday." She muttered to her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose jerked awake when she heard an explosion. She looked up and saw she was in a bombed out building. She got to her feet when the house shook from the explosion and plaster fell from the ceiling.

"Doctor?" she called out as she looked around her.

She cursed when she got no response.

"I guess I must be on Gargumenta then." She muttered to herself.

She shrieked when another explosion rocked the house and more plaster fell from the ceiling.

"Right, getting out of here now." She said running out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a field. The Doctor opened the door and peeked out. He glanced around and noticed no fighting near them.

"All clear." He said looking back inside.

He walked out followed by Donna and Martha. They looked around them as the Doctor closed the door.

"I hope the TARDIS will be alright here." He muttered. "I hate to think someone will hit her with a missile or something."

He patted the side fondly.

"We'll be back soon, girl, with Rose in tow." He said to her.

He turned away and looked at their surroundings. All around them there was evidence of recent warfare. Patches of grass were blackened and burned and crater sized holes were all over the field. In the distance there were a few bombed out ruins on a hill. Far in the distance, they could hear the distant boom of explosions.

"Right, let's start walking towards those ruins." The Doctor said slapping his hands together. "With any luck, we might run into someone who has seen Rose and know where she is."

"Doctor," Donna said pulling at his sleeve.

"Hmmm?" he said looking at her.

"Um, just how big is this war?" she asked.

"Oh, the entire planet's fighting." He said.

"Then…how do you know we landed near Rose? What if she's on the other side of the planet?"

The Doctor sighed.

"I'm trying not to think of that scenario." He said grimly.

Donna coughed.

"Um, sorry then." She said sheepishly.

The Doctor smiled at her. He put his hands in his pockets and looked over at the ruins.

"Well, let's get going then." He said to them.

The three of them started walking towards the ruins.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose gasped as another missile exploded near her. She was nearly out of breath, but she kept on running praying that somewhere there was a place of safety. As another missile hit, she prayed harder hoping that the Doctor was somewhere nearby. She ran up a hill and gasped when she nearly fell into a huge crater on the way down. She detoured around it and ran across the field listening to the exploding missiles and the sound of anguished screams echoing in the distance.

She ran up another hill and saw a house in the distance. She hesitated a moment wondering if she should run to it, then another missile exploded near her and she quickly made up her mind. She tore down the hill and ran like a maniac towards the house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor, Donna and Martha stood on the hill beside the ruins surveying the landscape. Around them was more of the same devastation along with the rotting corpses of a few bodies. Giant bird-like lizards gathered around the bodies feeding at them while several more circled overhead waiting their turn. Martha felt her stomach turning at the sight and forced herself to look away.

"Which way do we go, Doctor?" Donna asked.

The Doctor rubbed his ear as he looked far into the distance. He could see missiles exploding and calculated the fighting was about ten miles away from them.

"We go there." He said pointing to the explosions.

Both Donna and Martha's eyes bugged out.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Martha said.

"No, I'm not."

"You mean, you wanna get us killed on purpose?" Donna said.

"Think about it." The Doctor said turning to them. "If the Arcadians want me dead, where are they gonna put Rose?"

Both women groaned as the Doctor nodded.

"So, we go to where the fighting is." The Doctor said pointing back to the explosions. "If Rose is anywhere near us, I'm sure that's where she'll be. So, let's get to it."

Martha and Donna glanced at each other as they followed the Doctor down the hill towards the war zone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Rose entered the house through a wide hole in the wall. She looked around.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" she said.

She got no response. Praying that the house wouldn't collapse on top of her, she headed towards the back. As she went through what was left of the kitchen, she paused and her stomach turned when she saw a couple of mangled, decayed corpses lying on the floor. Her stomach turned even more when she noticed one of them was a little girl. Forcing herself to look away, she headed into the next room. As she explored the house, she kept hearing the explosions outside. Thankfully though they seemed to be slowing down and Rose hoped that meant the fighters were growing tired or running out of ammunition.

She entered what she guessed was the bedroom. There was a long, low table with a long cushion on top of it. She sat down on it and found it comfortable. She rested a moment while she tried to figure out her next move.

"If the Doctor is out there somewhere, I gotta figure out some way to signal him." She said to herself.

She flinched when she heard another explosion.

"Oh God, Doctor, please be alright." She whispered. "Please don't die now."

She jumped when an explosion went off close to the house.

"Right, I can't stay in here for much longer, that's for sure." She muttered. "But if I go outside, I wanna be sure I'm going in the right direction. If the Doctor's looking for me, I don't want to go further away."

She reached up to her neck and felt the silver collar there. She gave it a couple of tugs and cursed when it didn't budge.

"Bang goes that idea then." She muttered.

She shook her head.

"Probably wouldn't matter anyway. The Doctor would need the TARDIS to track the energy and I'm sure he's left it by now."

She gasped when another explosion shook the building. Getting up from the bed, she hurried out of the room towards the hole in the wall. As she ran through the kitchen, she stopped short when she saw a man rummaging through the cabinets. The man spun around and Rose gasped when she saw his face. He was humanoid, but his face resembled a bat's. He bared his fangs at her and put the cans of food he had collected on the counter.

"Who are you?" he said advancing towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"I…I was just hiding from the bombs." Rose said backing away.

"Really? And what's a pretty little girl like you doing out here in the middle of a battle?" he said.

He narrowed his eyes.

"I bet you're a Lox spy, aren't you?"

"No." Rose said. "Honestly, I was put out here by the Arcadians. You've heard of them, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I've heard of em. Their planet was destroyed in the Time War and they were wiped out with it, so your little explanation doesn't fly. Now, being a Lox spy, that sounds much more plausible to me. Especially since the Lox are known for using whores to gather their information for them."

He grinned.

"And that's what you are, isn't it? A whore? I tell you what, you turn a few tricks for me and I might consider letting you walk out of this house in one piece."

"Boy, you better be glad the Doctor isn't around to hear you say that." Rose said to him.

She backed up towards the door.

"Come on, ducky, don't be shy." The man said. "I won't hurt ya as long as you can satisfy me."

Rose looked around at the door. She looked back at the man and then ran for it.

"Come back here you whore! I'm not finished with you yet!" the man yelled behind her.

Rose ran for her life as the man pursued her through the house. She looked back and saw that he was gaining on her, a lustful look in his black beady eyes. Suddenly, there was another explosion directly beside the house. The man grunted as a huge chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling onto his head knocking him out. Rose paused long enough to catch her breath and then ran the other way towards the hole in the wall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hang on a minute, I gotta rest." Donna said to the Doctor.

The Doctor paused and put his hands in his pockets as Donna and Martha both bent over and caught their breath. It had been a couple of hours since they had started towards the battlefield. They had gone about two miles and the fast pace had exhausted both women. Both of them looked up and saw the Doctor glancing impatiently ahead of them. They knew that he was thinking it had been a bad idea to let them come along, but also knew he was too nice to tell them that directly. So, both Donna and Martha tried to recover as quickly as they could so they could get moving again.

The Doctor stood and waited patiently for his companions to get their breath back. As he stared at the battlefield ahead of him, his thoughts turned to Rose. He still couldn't believe she was back. It seemed so surreal to him, like a dream. He kept on wondering if it was. It just didn't seem possible that she was back. After all, hadn't he told her that if he crossed the void to get her, both universes would collapse? The only explanation for her return was that the Arcadians had somehow figured out how to cross the void safely. If they had, then they would be one of the very few species to manage it. But, never mind that. Rose was in the same universe once more and the Doctor couldn't be more thrilled. He had missed her company, the feel of her hand in his, her laughter. She still looked as beautiful as ever. And best of all, he finally got to tell her the words that fate had cheated him out of on that day. She now knew without a doubt that he did love her. He hoped that would give her the strength to hold out until he could get to her.

He winced when he heard another explosion echoing in the distance. If Martha and Donna weren't with him, he would have run across the field by now. He still wasn't convinced it was a good idea bringing them along. Yes, Martha's medical training could prove useful, but the Doctor wasn't planning on getting hurt in the first place. And Donna was just another person to watch out for out here. He understood why they needed to rest a moment which was why he was allowing it, but at the same time precious seconds were being wasted. Rose might be in peril and if they didn't move soon, she could end up hurt or worse.

He glanced back over when Martha and Donna came up beside him.

"Ready?" he asked them.

To his relief, they both nodded.

"Let's get going then." He said.

They headed off again towards the battlefield.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Rose gasped and ducked behind a hill when another missile fell nearby. If she got out of here and got back to the Doctor in one piece, she would consider herself lucky. She didn't know how much chance she had of making it to him without any protection or weapons, but she would make every effort to reach him or die trying.

She waited a moment and when there was a lull in the bombardment, she leapt up again and ran across the barren ground towards the next hill. She noticed as she neared the hill that she was getting closer to the fighting. She didn't know if that was a good idea or not, but she reasoned that even if she ran the other way the war would reach her eventually. Besides, if the Doctor was looking for her, she figured he would start with the war zone.

She reached the hill, ran up and was about to run down when three laser blasters pointing up at her face stopped her. At her feet lay three men who were staring up at her with confusion.

"What the bloody hell are you doing out here?" one of them demanded.

"I'm…lost." Rose said.

"I believe that." The man replied. "Now get down here before you get blasted to bits!"

Rose ran down the hill and lay down on her stomach besides the three men. She looked over at them as they conferred amongst themselves. They were all young, probably barely out of their teens. The man who had spoken to her had a baby face, short, light brown hair and blue eyes. The man beside him had a more rugged face, blonde hair and green eyes and the man beside him had a scarred up face, brown hair and hazel eyes. All of them stopped talking and looked back at her.

"Who are you?" the brown haired, blue-eyed man said.

"Name's Rose." She said. "I'm looking for someone. A man that calls himself the Doctor. You haven't seen him by any chance, have you?"

The man shook his head.

"Only Doctor I know of was our surgeon Digby and he was killed weeks back." He said. "What is a woman doing out here? I thought they evacuated all the women and children they could find months ago."

"Well, to be honest, I'm not from around here." Rose muttered.

The three men stared at one another.

"Are you a spy?" the man said suspiciously.

"No, I'm not a spy. I'm here because I was kidnapped and forced to come here." She replied.

The men glanced at each other.

"Not sure I buy that, but never mind. You're here now for better or for worse. Name's Namoc."

He pointed to the blonde haired man.

"This is Jallel."

He pointed to the other man.

"And this is Shova."

"Nice to meet all of ya." Rose said nodding.

"Yeah, well I would invite you in for a cup of hot Shadrack milk, but unfortunately there's a war going on at the moment." Namoc said.

They flinched as a bomb went off near them.

"Picked a hell of a time to come here, Rose." Namoc said.

"I told you, it wasn't my choice." Rose replied. "I was brought here because these Arcadians want to kill the Doctor and they put me here because they knew he would come after me."

Namoc frowned and stared at his two companions.

"The Arcadians are extinct now." Jallel said to her.

Rose shook her head.

"Not all of them, there's like a handful left." She said. "And they want revenge because the Doctor fought on their world during the Time War and it ended up getting destroyed."

"Time War, what's that?" Shova asked her.

Rose frowned.

"You've never heard of the Time War?" she said.

The three men looked at each other, looked back at Rose and shook their heads.

"The only war we know of is the one we're fighting right now. We've been fighting the Gargumens now for over 175 years. This is the only war we've ever known. We all joined up when we turned 15, military service is mandatory on Loxus."

He flinched when another bomb exploded nearby.

"So, where are you from?" Namoc asked Rose.

"I'm from Earth."

"Earth, where's that?" Shova said.

Rose paused.

"Honestly, I have no idea how far away it is from here." She said.

They jumped as another bomb exploded several feet away. They covered their heads as dirt clumps rained down on them.

"Shouldn't you be fighting back?" Rose asked. "Why are you hiding back here?"

"We're trying to retreat, but we got pinned in." Jallel said.

"Retreat, why?"

"Our unit got wiped out. We're the only ones who survived." Namoc replied.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry. That's terrible." Rose said sadly.

"Yeah, well, I suppose if this war keeps going, we'll all join them eventually." Namoc said grimly.

He turned and looked behind him.

"Well, guys, we can't stay here much longer. The bombardment is getting closer. I say we run to those houses over there and hope we make it there in one piece."

"I'm with you." Jallel said. "Another few minutes and the bombs will be exploding right in front of us."

"Yeah, let's get the hell outta here." Shova said.

Namoc looked at Rose.

"You coming with or you gonna stay here and hope your friend comes by to pick you up?" he said to her.

"No, I'm going with you."

Namoc nodded.

"Wise choice." He said.

They all turned over on their backs. The three men readied their blasters.

"All right everyone. On the count of three, we run like hell towards those houses. Ready? 1...2…3!"

They all leapt up and sprinted like mad towards the houses. Rose felt her lungs burning as she struggled to keep up with the more muscular men. She looked over and saw a couple of bat-faced people in the distance peering at them from a foxhole. She picked up the speed when the two of them started to gesture wildly at them and aimed their blasters. Rose yelled at the men.

"I see them." Namoc said.

He and Jallel aimed their blasters and fired at their heads. The Gargumens ducked back down in the foxhole and the four of them increased their speed.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the four of them reached the house. Namoc threw open the front door and they all ran in, blasters pointed in every direction.

"Search the house." Namoc said to Jallel and Shova. "Make sure we're really alone in here. Rose, stick with me."

Rose nodded. He headed towards the back of the house as the other two men sprinted up the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor held up his hand.

"Hang on," he said. "Now I have to rest a minute."

Donna and Martha let out a sigh of relief. They walked over to a nearby tree and rested against it as the Doctor crouched down on the ground.

"How far do you think we've come?" Martha asked him.

The Doctor glanced behind him.

"Probably about seven miles." He said.

"Ugh, no wonder my feet are throbbing." Donna groaned. "One thing's for sure, you do keep in shape being the Doctor's companion."

"Yup, you are now a member of the Time Lord Weight Watchers weight loss program." The Doctor said grinning at her. "Free meals and all the exercise you could ever want."

He jerked his head around when he heard another explosion.

"Blimey, the way they're going on, I'm surprised there's any land left. " Martha said to the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded.

"They've been going on like this for 175 years."

"175 years?" Donna said in disbelief. "What are they fighting about?"

"Weeell, same old things people fight about, land, power, that kind of thing. Loxus, the home world of the Lox is slowly dying and this world is rich in minerals and it has good soil."

He flinched when another bomb went off.

"Or it did before everyone started blasting it to bits." He said. "Anyway, the two sides have been going back and forth for years with neither side willing to yield. The Lox picked the wrong people to pick a fight with. The Gargumens are not only ruthless, they're extremely stubborn. They want to win no matter what the cost."

"Even if winning means they tear up their own planet?" Martha asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"Yup, because they figure if they can't have their world, then no one can." He said to them. "And all the time new and better weapons are being built, when they started out they were basically in the iron age with just swords and spears and now it's moved up to missiles. I expect if it goes on long enough, they'll go nuclear and then it's bye, bye planet."

"Surely they won't let it go that far." Martha said. "I mean, look at Russia and the US, they had tons of nuclear weapons, but the fear of total annihilation prevented them from using it. Surely, it would be the same here."

"Logically, yes, but as I said before the Gargumens aren't about to give up their home world to anyone and if that means irradiating the planet and killing off all life, then so be it. They might cause their extinction, but if they make their planet uninhabitable for everyone then, in their eyes, they have won."

"Odd sort of victory." Donna said.

"Well, the Gargumens are an odd sort of people." The Doctor said shrugging. "Irrational behavior in wartime isn't just a human trait, it's very much a universal thing…sadly."

He looked over as another bomb exploded.

"Doctor, what the Arcadians said. You really didn't do all that did you? Because I really can't see you rampaging through villages destroying people at random."

"I can."

Martha looked at Donna. Donna looked at the Doctor who was staring back at her calmly.

"You shoulda seen him down under the flood barrier with the Rachnoss. When he was destroying her nest, he just stood there staring at the screaming Rachnoss queen with this cold, heartless look in his eyes. It terrified me. That's why I didn't go traveling with him at first. I'm sorry, Doctor, I care about you and I'm not scared to be with you now, but, I really do think you are capable of going on a rampage and slaughtering a village."

The Doctor nodded.

"You don't have to apologize. I know I lose control like that sometimes. To be fair, I had just got done saying goodbye to Rose when you got pulled into my TARDIS and I had a lot of anger and pain that was bubbling beneath the surface. Sad to say, but taking my anger and frustration at losing Rose out on the Rachnoss made me feel better."

He smiled sadly at her.

"I didn't mean to frighten you though. That wasn't my intention, Donna. I was shocked to hear you say that because I didn't realize how I looked to you."

"Ah, it's alright. I understand. I've done the same thing when I've broken up with someone except I usually do my rampaging through the malls and Ben and Jerry's."

The Doctor chuckled at that.

"To answer your question though, Martha, yes I did destroy a lot of the Arcadian's villages and left a lot of devastation in my wake, but only because I was pursuing the Daleks through those villages. The Daleks did a lot of damage, but I guess, with the exception of Caan, they aren't around any more; the Arcadians chose to take their anger out on me. Both the Daleks and I did our fair share of damage, but unlike them, I regret what I did. Except for the occasional ally I'd find on different planets, I was doing the bulk of the fighting so I had to take every advantage I could get. So if leveling a building meant that I could put a couple of Daleks out of commission, so be it. It was two less Daleks terrorizing the population and if someone lost their home because of it, I considered that a necessary trade-off. Homes can be rebuilt, lives can't. Mind you, I tried my hardest to make sure all innocents were cleared out of the way before I began fighting, but sometimes that just wasn't feasible. No one ever said war was fair. Sometimes the innocent die along with the guilty. I didn't want to fight the Time War, but I had to because I had a duty to protect the universe from the Dalek's evil. If doing that makes me a monster, then I guess that's what I am."

Donna and Martha looked at each other. They walked over, knelt down beside the Doctor and put their hands on their shoulders.

"We don't think you're a monster." Martha said as Donna shook her head in agreement. "You did what you had to do to stop the Daleks. You did a lot more than most people did. Most people would have run and hid, but you chose to make a stand and stop them before they conquered the universe. You are an amazing man, Doctor, and I'm so glad I met you."

"Me too." Donna said.

The Doctor smiled at both of them.

"Thank you." He said. "This is why I love having companions with me. Even when it seems like the entire universe is against me, I know that I have some friends that I can turn to and count on when everyone else turns their backs on me. I'd rather have one or two loyal friends than a thousand rainy day friends any day."

Donna and Martha smiled at him and squeezed his shoulders.

"You can always count on us, Doctor." Donna said as Martha nodded in agreement.

The Doctor nodded at that.

"Good, I'm glad." He said.

He sighed, as he looked over at the battleground a couple of miles away.

"You guys ready now?" he asked them.

Donna and Martha nodded.

"Good, then let's get going so we can get Rose." He said standing up.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Rose sat at the kitchen table with Namoc, Jallel, and Shova. They had searched the house and found no one so they decided to relax for a moment. Namoc had searched through the cupboards and found something called Parselberry tea so he brewed up some for everyone. Rose licked her lips as she took a sip of it. It wasn't too bad, tasted a bit like blueberries. She sat and listened to the men as they discussed their next move.

"I think we should find some more of our comrades. Join up with them." Jallel was saying to Namoc. "Other units will be glad to have us. I'm sure they're gonna want all the help they can get."

"Yes, but what about Rose?" Namoc said gesturing to her. "We can't take her along. The units don't accept women."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine on my own." Rose said.

The three men stared at her in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? You're a woman and you're in the middle of a war zone. You're gonna get hurt!" Namoc said.

Rose eyed him.

"For your information, I've been in a lot worse situations than this. I may be a woman, but I can more than handle myself when it comes to fighting. Like I said, go ahead and leave if you want to, I'll be fine without ya."

The three men looked at each other.

"She might be telling the truth, Namoc." Shova said. "I mean she did walk through the battlefield without getting a scratch on her."

"Yeah, I guess so," Namoc said sighing. "Still, I'd feel better if she were away from here. We can take her west. There's no fighting there, then she can make her own way while we go back to the battle."

Jallel looked at Rose.

"How about it, Rose? Sound good?" he said.

"Sounds good to me." Rose replied.

"Then it's settled, after we get done with our tea, we'll head west and make sure you're away from the danger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Namoc looked out the front door. There was still fighting going on, but it seemed to be sporadic for the moment. He looked behind him at the others.

"I think we better move now. The fighting's not as intense at the moment." He said.

He stepped outside and held his blaster at the ready as the others came outside. All of them looked around and then they headed to the right. Rose followed behind them thankful at least that they were leading her away from the battle. Maybe when she got out where it was quiet, she would be able to come up with a plan to find the Doctor. As they walked along, the explosions went from being ear-splitting to being annoying to being background noise. The smoke the bombs gave off slowly dissipated the further away they got and Rose could finally smell the fresh air and see the suns clearly. She looked around and noticed that the countryside was pretty in the spots that hadn't been obliterated by the bombs. It would have been a very picturesque site if the blackened patches of grass and the craters and ruins hadn't marred the landscape. She shook her head sadly. She had no idea what the war was being fought over, but it was a shame they were destroying the lovely environment in the process.

They reached a hill and started to walk up it. As they neared the top, Namoc held out his hand in front of Rose.

"Wait, there's someone out there walking through the field. Wait here until we figure out who it is." He said to her.

Rose nodded and stopped. The three men drew their blasters and went the rest of the way up. She watched as they stood on top of the hill looking out at someone in the distance.

"YOU THERE!" Namoc screamed. "WHO ARE YOU? IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"

Rose's heart leapt into her throat when she heard,

"MY NAME IS THE DOCTOR. THIS IS MARTHA JONES AND DONNA NOBLE. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A FRIEND OF OURS---"

"DOCTOR!"

The three men jerked their heads around as Rose scrambled up the hill.

"DOCTOR, IT'S ME!" she screamed. "I'M HERE!"

"ROSE!" she heard him scream happily.

She reached the top of the hill and cried out with delight. A half-mile away, the Doctor stood in the field flanked on either side by Martha and Donna. Rose grinned when she heard the Doctor laugh insanely and begin to run towards her. Rose pushed past the bewildered men and ran down the hill stumbling halfway down in her eagerness to get to him. She caught herself and took off running again. As the men stood on the hill and the women stood in the field the two lovers ran straight at each other arms outstretched as if they were in a romantic movie. Rose's eyes misted over and she brushed her hand over her eyes so she could see clearly. The Doctor had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face and it made Rose's heart soar and made her run even faster. She sprinted trying to close the gap between them. Her arms were opened wide in anticipation and it seemed to her like it was taking forever to get to him. She openly wept when she heard the Doctor calling her name over and over. His voice never sounded so good. Her legs burned from the strain she was putting on them, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to reach him.

Then, suddenly, her foot hit a rock and she gasped as she began to stumble. She heard the Doctor yell out her name and then her body slammed into the ground knocking the wind out of her.

"Real smooth, Rose." She muttered as she tried to get to her feet. "How come that never happens in the movies?"

As she got to her hands and knees, she saw the Doctor run up and then she felt his arms around her waist.

"Rose?" he panted. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just mortified beyond all belief is all." Rose said sitting back in the grass.

She glanced at the Doctor who was trying his hardest not to laugh. His expression kept going back and forth between concern and amusement and Rose couldn't help but laugh at the odd faces he was making. The Doctor beamed at that and took her in his arms.

"Oh, Rose, my Rose." He murmured tightening his embrace around her. "At last I can hold you again. I never thought this day would come."

Rose smiled.

"Never say never ever." she murmured to him.

She leaned her head onto his shoulder and felt the Doctor put his head against the back of hers. He rubbed her back as the two of them held each other silently. The world around them fell away and Rose knew only the Doctor. She clung to him no longer caring that there was a war going on nearby. As far as she was concerned, a missile could hit them at that moment and she would die happy.

She felt the Doctor urging her to lean back up and she did. She stared at his face as he cupped her face with his hands. He chuckled softly as he picked specks of dirt out of the strands of her hair.

"Funny, when you see the lovers running towards each other in the movies, they always seem to have a clear path." He said, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, and of course I would try the same thing and have a big bleedin' rock directly in my path so I can trip and fall on my face and look like the biggest arse in the universe." Rose replied.

The Doctor chuckled. He traced her lips with the pads of his fingers and then slowly he leaned in for a kiss. It started out chaste and then slowly it became more and more passionate until the two of them were snogging each other's brains out. As they kissed, they were unaware that both sides were walking towards them. The Doctor was oblivious to everything as he ran his hands over every inch of Rose reacquainting himself with the feel of her body. By the time the others reached them, the two were in the throes of ecstasy and had completely lost all sense of place and time. The reverie wasn't broken until Rose heard Namoc say,

"I take it this is the Doctor chap you were looking for?"

Rose and the Doctor pulled away from each other. Their faces reddened when they saw a very fascinated audience now surrounded them on all sides. The Doctor tried to compose himself as Donna and Martha snickered.

"I'm sorry, you are?" he said trying to reassert his authority over the situation.

"My name is Namoc. My friends, Jallel and Shova and I were fighting when Rose stumbled into our path. We were taking her to safety when she found you." He said to the Doctor.

"Well, I thank you for that. If you hadn't done that, It might have been a long time before I found her." The Doctor said smiling at him.

"I take it you two are very close then." Namoc said.

"Yes, we are." The Doctor said.

He glanced at Rose and frowned when he noticed she was staring past him. He followed his gaze and saw she was looking at Martha and Donna with an odd look on her face. He cleared his throat.

"Ah, Rose, allow me to introduce Donna Noble and Martha Jones, my traveling companions." He said gesturing to them.

Donna and Martha smiled and waved, but Rose only gave them a polite nod. She looked at the Doctor and he frowned when he noticed the hurt in her eyes.

"Rose, what is it?" he muttered.

"Can I talk to you for a moment in private, please?" Rose asked.

"Um, sure." The Doctor said shrugging.

He helped her to her feet as he stood up. Rose took his hand and led him away from the crowd. When they were out of earshot, Rose stopped him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Who are they?" she said.

"Who?"

"Donna and Martha."

"I told you, they're my companions." The Doctor said.

His brow furrowed when he noticed the tears coming to Rose's eyes.

"Rose, what is it?" he said softly as he put a hand on her arm.

"You forgot about me." She said softly.

"What? No, I didn't." the Doctor said, shocked.

"What would have happened if I had never come back? Would you have replaced me with one of them?"

The Doctor's mouth dropped open.

"No!" he said gripping both arms. "Rose, I love you and only you. Martha and Donna are just friends, nothing more. Just because I was traveling with others didn't mean I forgot about you and replaced you in my hearts. I never stopped looking for a way to get you back. You are the one I want. Didn't the snog prove that just now?"

Rose brushed a tear away and nodded. The Doctor gathered into his arms.

"You're not going to be replaced, my angel." He murmured in her ear. "I only have eyes for you. There's no reason to be scared of them. They aren't competition. Neither one of them are interested in me. Please, give them a chance. I think you'll get along great with them. Come on, don't you want a couple of girls you can talk girl talk with in the TARDIS? I mean, you did ask me to invite Sarah Jane after you got to know her, so you apparently don't have objections to other women traveling with us."

He stroked her hair.

"I'm so glad you're back, my Rose. Words can't describe the level of happiness I feel at having you near me again. I swear my hearts are about ready to explode with joy. My little plus one is here with me at last."

He kissed the top of her head.

"So, are you ready for more adventures with me?"

"Hell yeah." Rose said into his shoulder.

The Doctor chuckled and gazed at her adoringly as Rose turned her head and looked up at him.

"I really think you'll like Martha and Donna." He said to her. "Martha is studying to be a doctor, I think she has a year left before she gets her degree. And Donna…"

He thought a moment.

"Well, Donna kinda grows on you, let's put it that way. Once you get to know her and get past her brusque way of speaking, she's really a nice woman. Both of them were like you, Rose, just a couple of ordinary women who got caught up in a situation with me and ended up helping me out. I invited them to come along same as I did with you. But, like I said, they are friends, not replacements. So, can I trust you to be civil to them? Because I really don't want to fly the TARDIS while there's an enormous catfight going on in the console room."

"I can get along with them." Rose said.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. We are all civilized adults flying in the TARDIS, not hillbilly trailer trash on the Jerry Springer show."

Rose giggled at that.

"That would be an interesting topic though. My alien lover is dating two women. Sounds like a typical Jerry Springer show."

"Yeah, it does." The Doctor said nodding. "But, don't get any ideas about that and call up their studio to sign us up for a show, you hear me?"

"Yes, Doctor." Rose said with a twinkle in her eyes.

The Doctor gave her a peck on the lips. He looked over at the others who were standing beside one another watching them intently.

"Right, I think we've given them enough of a show. Let's go back and sort all this out so we can go home, shall we?"

"Home, I never thought I'd see it again. I can't wait to set foot in the TARDIS."

The Doctor smiled. He took Rose's hand and the two of them walked back towards the others.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Rose walked beside the Doctor as they went back to the others. As they walked, the Doctor glanced over and saw the silver collar still around her neck.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He said stopping her.

He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, walked around behind Rose and aimed it at the back of the collar. There was a snap and Rose breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor pulled the collar off.

"Thank you." Rose said rubbing her neck.

"Anytime, that collar didn't go well with your whole outfit anyway." The Doctor said giving her a peck on the cheek. He threw it to the ground and took Rose's hand as they resumed walking towards the others.

As they neared, Rose looked at Donna and Martha. She smiled politely and they smiled back, but she could tell they were sizing her up. Whenever she envisioned being reunited with the Doctor, she always imagined it would just be the two of them alone in the TARDIS. She never figured there would be other companions by the time she got back. She suddenly felt uneasy. It seemed like she had gone from being top of the heap to the bottom of the totem pole in one fell swoop. She wondered if she was going to have to fight them for her place in the TARDIS pecking order. Still, she was determined to keep the peace. She promised the Doctor she would be civil and she would be. She just wondered if all of them could get along.

As the Doctor conversed with the three men, Rose walked slowly up to the two women.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi, Rose." Martha said.

"Hi." Donna said.

The three women stared at one another in silence. Rose cleared her throat after a few minutes.

"So, um…how long you been traveling with the Doctor?" she asked them.

"Nine months." Donna said.

"I traveled with him for a year and then I took a break for awhile and now it's been about three months since I've been back." Martha said.

"Oh." Rose said.

They fell into silence again. Rose listened to the Doctor chatting beside her. He was trying to determine what was going on with the war and what the three men had been doing. Smiling, she decided to make another effort.

"So, um…Martha, you're studying to be a doctor?" she asked her.

"Yes, I am." Martha said nodding. "I'm nearly done. I have about a year left now and then I get my degree."

"That's great." Rose said.

"What have you been doing?" Donna asked.

"Well, I worked at the Torchwood in the other universe and was supervisor in charge of about ten field agents. They went out and investigated alien sightings and they'd send the reports to me and then I used my knowledge of alien civilizations that I got from traveling with the Doctor to tell them what species it was…if I could, of course. I didn't know all the aliens that were in the reports, but I knew a lot of them."

Martha and Donna nodded.

"My cousin Adeola worked at the Canary Wharf Torchwood." Martha said. "Unfortunately, she was one of the ones that died that day."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." Rose said. "The Doctor and I were there that day and I know there were a lot of people that were killed. I'm so sorry one of them was your relative."

Martha smiled at her.

"Well, to be fair, we weren't that close, but It was still a shock all the same." She said. "We kinda know a little of what happened to you on that day, but not much. The Doctor didn't really talk about you very much, it was too painful for him."

Rose looked over at the Doctor who had his back to him chatting away amicably with the three men. She reached over, laid her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The Doctor looked around at her and smiled.

"You alright?" he asked gently.

Rose nodded. The Doctor's smile widened and he winked at her before turning his head back around and resuming his conversation. Rose lowered her arm back to her side and looked at Donna.

"What about you? Are you going to college?" she asked her.

"Nah, can't afford it. I was working as a temp at H.C. Clements when I met the Doctor, which actually turned out to be a front for Torchwood so I guess the three of us have something in common. Anyway, turns out there was a gigantic alien spider under the Thames flood barrier and the Doctor and I helped defeat it. Well…actually he did most of the defeating I guess. I was just kinda…there. But, after that, I turned down his offer to travel with him and it wasn't until later when we met up again that I agreed to go. It's been…interesting to say the least. Met Agatha Christie, went to Pompeii and Martha and I just finished tangling with these turd headed aliens called the Sontarans. Ugly gits, I don't know if you fought them."

"No, we never fought them. I fought Daleks and Cybermen and Krillitaines and a werewolf and I met Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria."

"Wow," Martha said. "I met Shakespeare myself so I guess all of us have met someone famous. Um…I also fought the Daleks in 1930's New York. In fact, one of them, Dalek Sec made himself into this weird human hybrid."

"Dalek Sec? The cult of Skaro? I thought they were sucked into the void?" Rose said frowning.

"No, they escaped. Actually, all of them are dead now except for Caan, I think it is. The Doctor said he did this emergency temporal shift thing and disappeared. But, he's the last one now."

"I wouldn't bet on it. The first Dalek I ever saw was in this underground compound in Utah and when it destroyed itself, we thought it was the last until a whole fleet of them showed up. I wouldn't be surprised if more showed up sooner or later."

"Ugh, I hope not." Martha said. "Four of them were bad enough, I don't think I could stand a whole fleet."

"I'm sure they weren't as bad as a humongous spider or running away from the volcano in bleedin' Pompeii." Donna said.

"Pompeii?" Rose said. "That must have been scary."

"Um, yeah, just slightly." She said. "Ash and smoke and flamin' rocks everywhere. We barely got out of there with our lives."

She sighed.

"Thing was, I wanted the Doctor to give everyone an advance warning so no one would get killed, but in the end we had to leave them so we wouldn't mess up history." She said sadly. "That was horrible, just walking among all these people and having to keep silent about what was going to happen. The whole thing just killed me inside, especially seeing the little kids that would play in the streets and run up to us wondering who we were and…"

She trailed off and swallowed hard.

"Anyway, I'm glad to be away from there." She said softly.

Rose and Martha glanced at each other.

"I know how you feel," Rose said. "There's been times I've felt the same way. When we met Charles Dickens, there were these creatures called the Gelth who were possessing dead bodies because they were gas creatures. They were trying to invade our world and had lied about it. There was this servant girl name Gwyneth that I became close with and she was letting the Gelth come through her and they killed her and possessed her dead body. In the end, we had to turn up the gas to lure the Gelth out of the corpses they were possessing and when they were all gathered together Gwyneth lit a match and blew up the house. It was the second trip I had taken with the Doctor and it just disturbed me to no end afterwards. I guess I'm more used to it now, but I hated that I had just gotten to know her and then she was dead."

"Yup, I've had the same thing happen to me." Martha said. "I've met people who ended up dying and had to come to terms with the shock of it all. I guess it's one of the things that come with traveling with the Doctor, but still the first couple of deaths were hard."

She stared off into space.

"The hardest thing though was when the Master took over and these creatures called the Toclafane killed one tenth of the population of Earth and I was walking the Earth trying to tell people to say the Doctor's name at one specific moment in time so he could be restored and defeat the Master. The devastation I saw then was horrible. It took a lot for me to keep going some days."

"Huh? One tenth of the population of Earth is dead?" Rose said in disblief.

"No, not anymore," Martha said holding up her hands. "See, these Toclafane came from the year 100 trillion and they came back to murder their ancestors so they could live in the present day. Well, in order for them to do that and not cancel themselves out, the Master took the TARDIS and made it into a paradox machine and that allowed the Toclafane to kill without them dying. When the paradox machine was destroyed, time went backwards and everything was restored to the way it was before the Toclafane came. The only ones who remember what happened in the year they reigned was myself, the Doctor, Jack, the Master, his wife, Lucy, my family and a handful of others. Everyone else forgot."

Rose shook her head.

"Geez, I missed out on so much. And…you met Jack."

"Yeah, he's a pretty nice guy. I worked with him for a bit at his Torchwood in Cardiff."

"Jack works for Torchwood?" Rose said.

"Yeah, but it's not the same as the lot at Canary Wharf, they're different."

"Blimey, I really need to get caught up here." Rose said shaking her head. "It sounds like I missed out on a lot."

"Yes, you did."

Rose looked over at the Doctor who was grinning at her.

"We need to fill you in big time, Rose Tyler." He said.

"Yeah, especially the part where the Master aged him 100 years and made him into this old geezer." Martha said.

Rose's eyes bugged out.

"You were an old man?" she asked him.

"Yeah, for about a year." The Doctor replied.

"Yeah, and then the Master aged him further and turned him into Dobby."

"He did not turn me into Dobby, Martha Jones!" the Doctor said indignantly as Martha snickered.

Donna looked at Martha.

"The Doctor was turned into Dobby?" she said to her.

"Oh yeah, shrunk down and everything. The Master had him in a little birdcage. It was so cute."

Donna and Rose looked at each other. They looked at the Doctor who had turned crimson.

"You were Dobby in a birdcage?" Rose asked.

"No, I was not bleedin' Dobby!" the Doctor said as everyone giggled. "I was small and wrinkly, but I wasn't Dobby!"

"I just wish I had my camera with me at the time. I bet you guys would have loved to seen what he looked like in his little bird cage." Martha said.

The Doctor sighed as the three girls giggled.

"Anyway, I hate to interrupt the female bonding, but Namoc knows where we can spend the night. I figure since it's a ten mile walk back to the TARDIS, we might as well rest up."

"Oh thank God, I was dreading hearing you say that we had to start back. I think the blisters on my feet have blisters now." Donna said.

"Nah, I'm tired too. A ten-mile walk tires out even me. The house they know of is away from the battlefield so it'll be safe for us to spend the night. They said there's food there too so we won't go hungry. I figure I can cook for you while the three of you continue to get to know one another. It sounds like the three of you were hitting it off."

"Yeah, I think we're loosening up and finding some common ground."

The Doctor beamed.

"Good. I want you guys to be friends." He said. "I want our TARDIS to be happy and harmonious."

He took Rose's hand.

"Shall we?" he said nodding to the three men.

Martha and Donna nodded. They fell in beside The Doctor and Rose and they followed the three men as they led them away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten 

Triton was standing on the deck of his ship staring down at Gargumenta. He smiled thinking of the Doctor down there amidst the chaos and destruction. When they had taken Rose down to the surface, they had made sure to put her in the middle of the battle. She pictured the female cowering in fear in the dilapidated old house while the Time Lord dodged laser blasts and bombs to get to her. With any luck one of them would hit him and then they would have their revenge at last.

"My brother."

Triton turned and saw Pelios standing in the doorway.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I just checked the scanners. Rose Tyler's collar has been deactivated." He said coming into the room.

Triton frowned.

"Deactivated?"

"Yes, my brother."

Triton turned and looked out the window. Pelios came up beside him.

"It seems that the Time Lord has found his mate." Pelios said.

"No, he can't have."

"Then, how do you explain the collar being deactivated, brother?" Pelios said.

Triton stared out the window in silence for a moment. Suddenly, he slammed his hand against the glass.

"NO!" he yelled. "He cannot get away! We will not be denied revenge! The Time Lord must die!"

"What shall we do then?" Pelios asked.

"Take his TARDIS. Deny him and his friends escape. They will stay there until they are dead."

"And if the Time Lord escapes some other way?"

Triton jerked his head around and glared at him.

"The Time Lord is not an idiot, brother." Pelios said gently. "You know as well as I that their race possessed extraordinary intelligence. If anyone could come up with a way to get off the planet, it would be him."

Triton considered that.

"You are right, my brother, the Doctor survived the Time War and managed to elude us up until now. Unlike the dull, infantile minds of his companions, he possesses a keen intellect. There must be another solution to this problem. If the Doctor can escape death, perhaps there is another way to gain revenge."

"How about his companions?" Pelios said. "His mate, perhaps if we put her to death, would that not bring him unimaginable torment?"

Triton scratched his chin thoughtfully as his tongue flicked in and out.

"Simply putting her to death is not enough. I want something more. I want the Time Lord to suffer until the day he draws his final breath. The female should have a living death, be alive but unable to respond to the Doctor. That would be better, I think."

He turned and looked at Pelios.

"Come, I shall show you something." He said to him.

Pelios nodded and followed his brother out the door. They walked along the corridors until they came to a room hidden near the back of the ship.

"I have never shown you this room before my brother because I swore an oath never to reveal its secrets. However I am the only surviving member so there is no harm in me showing you this. As you know, when I reached puberty, I was initiated into The Crystal Skulls who were dedicated to the passing down of certain magical secrets. I learned from Hadarack himself, a sorcerer reputed to be one of the greatest who ever lived. It was under his tutelage that I learned the spell I'm about to show you. You must swear not to tell the others what you see here. This spell is for your eyes alone. Now, swear."

"I swear, brother, I will not tell what I have seen here."

Triton nodded. He put his hand against the jet-black door. Pelios watched as a bright light formed under the hand and then the door slid open. Pelios followed his brother inside and looked around as Triton turned on the light. All around them were scattered weird magical artifacts, orbs, wands, ingredients in glass jars, and spell books. Pelios stared at them intently.

"Over here."

Pelios turned and walked over to his brother who was standing by a table. On the table sat a small crystal statue of a bird.

"Do you recognize this animal?" he said gesturing to it.

"Of course, it is a Qurtak. The bird native to our world." Pelios replied.

"Precisely. An animal that sadly is extinct now because of the Time Lord's actions." Triton said, his eyes burning with hate.

He composed himself and walked over to a cabinet.

"What do you notice about the statue, brother?" Triton said as he opened the cabinet door.

Pelios leaned down and examined the bird.

"There appears to be some sort of medallion around its neck." He said leaning back up.

"Very good." Triton said walking back to him. "A medallion that is identical to this one."

He held up the medallion suspended on a silver chain.

"This bird here was once a living being." Triton said. "And it lives even now. It is aware of everything we are saying. It knows what is happening and can still see, but it has been transformed forever into a crystal statue. No matter how much you interact with it, it will not respond. All it can do is sit there and watch life unfold in front of it."

He pointed to the medallion.

"This medallion is the cause of its petrifaction. It has a powerful enchantment on it that transforms any living being into a crystal statue. As you can see the statue still shows the minute details of the bird down to the smallest pinfeathers. So, shall it be with Rose Tyler. If we put this necklace around her neck, she will transform into a crystal statue that will resemble her exactly in every detail. She will still be able to see, to hear, and to know what is going on. But she will not move, will not speak, and will not interact with anyone. She will stay that way forever, doomed to a living death and there is nothing the Time Lord can do about it. There is only one spell that can reverse the transformation and I alone know what it is. I think seeing his beloved turned into a crystal statue is just as fitting a punishment for the Time Lord as killing him, don't you think, my brother?"

"Oh yes." He said.

He paused a moment.

"What of the other two females?" he said. "Will they be put under the same spell?"

"No," Triton said waving his hand dismissively. "The females are nothing. It is Rose Tyler who the Doctor loves. He will not ache for the two females, as he will for his mate. We will allow them to live to show the Doctor that we are capable of mercy."

He folded the medallion and put it in his robes.

"Come, we shall make plans to depart for the surface. There, we shall ambush the Time Lord when he returns to his TARDIS and put the medallion around Rose Tyler's neck. Then, we shall leave the Time Lord wallowing forever in misery and let his anguished cries echo across the universe forever."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, this is it." Namoc said as they reached the house about a mile away from the battlefield. "I'm sure no one will disturb you for tonight. The battle is far enough away that the bombs will not reach you."

"Thank you, we appreciate this." The Doctor said nodding. "Don't we guys?"

He looked over at the three women. Rose was fine, but both Martha and Donna were hobbling along now.

"If there is somewhere in there where I can lay down and take the weight off my feet, I will personally get down on my hands and knees and lick their shoes." Donna said wincing in pain as she limped towards the house.

The Doctor smiled at the three men.

"That means yes." He told them.

Namoc nodded. He watched as Martha followed Donna into the house. He looked back and saw that Rose had come up beside the Doctor.

"Thanks so much for all you've done." Rose said smiling at them.

"You're welcome." Namoc said as the Doctor put his arm around her shoulders. "I hope that you and the Doctor will be happy together."

Rose smiled at him.

"Oh, we will, don't worry." She said.

"You sure you guys won't spend the night with us?" the Doctor said. "We'd love the company."

"No, that's fine. We just want to get back to the battle and join up with a unit. We're needed much more there than here. We appreciate it though." He said.

The Doctor nodded.

"Good night then."

"Good night, Doctor and Rose." He said as Shova and Jallel nodded. "And tell the others we said good night as well."

"I will."

They watched as the three men turned and walked away. As the sun began to set, the Doctor smiled down at Rose.

"Hungry?" he asked her.

"Famished."

The Doctor smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Come on, I'll fix us supper then." He said.

Rose sighed contentedly as the Doctor's hand slid down to her arm. He kept his arm draped around her as the two of them turned and entered the house together.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Here we go. Dinner is served."

He poured something from a metal pot into some wooden bowls. He put wooden spoons inside each of them and walked over to the table. He sat a bowl down in front of Rose and Donna and went to get the last two for himself and Martha. Donna stared down at the lime green paste resting in the bowl.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." She muttered to herself. "What is this stuff?"

"It's Sarmac paste, it's very nutritious." The Doctor said setting a bowl down in front of Martha and sitting down beside her.

"Yeah, but does nutritious equal edible?" Donna said.

The Doctor glanced at Rose who was quietly eating.

"Rose seems to have no problem with eating it." He said pointing to her.

Donna looked at Rose.

"How is it?" she asked her.

"It's good. Try it." Rose said.

Donna looked back at the Doctor who was giving her a pointed look. Sighing, she picked up her spoon and tried it. She swished it around in her mouth for a moment and then shrugged.

"Yeah, it's alright. I can eat it." Donna said.

The Doctor glanced at Rose.

"She's the fussy eater of the group, I guess." He said to her.

"Well, I'm sorry if I hesitate before eating things that look like something that came out of my nose." She said to him.

She spooned a mouthful of paste in her mouth as the rest of them ate quietly.

"So, tomorrow do we go back to Cocoleus Droxeminus?" Martha asked.

"Yes, because I've laid down almost 11,000 credits on those rooms and I'm not gonna let them go to waste." The Doctor replied.

"You rented rooms there again?" Rose asked him.

The Doctor smiled at her.

"Indeed I did. After battling the Sontarans, I figured we needed a rest. I have a very expensive suite there just waiting to be used."

He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it.

"And now I have someone to share it with me." He said smiling warmly.

"Well, you know, we did offer to share the bed with ya being your harem girls and all." Martha said.

Rose's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"What?" she said as Martha and Donna snickered.

"Nothing, just a little cover story I had to make up to keep Chewbacca from shagging Donna."

Martha snorted laughter as Donna shot him a look. Rose shook her head.

"I really do need to be updated I guess." She said.

The Doctor laughed.

"Anyway, that is what is awaiting us tomorrow. A room in our favorite resort."

"Ooo, I can't wait." Rose said. "I hope our stay will be just as good as last time."

Martha and Donna looked at each other.

"Why? What happened last time?" Martha said leaning into the Doctor.

"None of your business." The Doctor said stiffly.

"Aw, come on, Doctor. We wanna hear." Martha said.

"Yeah, give us all the sordid details." Donna added.

"You won't get so much as a peep from me. What happens in Cocoleus Droxeminus stays in Cocoleus Droxeminus." He said.

Martha and Donna groaned.

"Well, to be fair, you could tell them about sneaking into the massage room with a can of whipped cream that one night and----"

The Doctor slammed his hand over Rose's mouth as both Martha and Donna perked up.

"Really?" Martha said looking at the Doctor. "What about the massage room and the whipped cream?"

"None of your business!" the Doctor said as all three women giggled. "And if you ask me again, you're gonna find a load of Sarmac paste up your nose."

He glanced over at Rose.

"Shut it, Tyler." He said when he noticed she was opening her mouth.

Rose raised her hands in a what? Gesture. She giggled as the Doctor shook his head and spooned Sarmac paste into his mouth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, good night, you two." The Doctor said.

He and Rose were standing outside the door to one bedroom and Martha and Donna were standing across the hall outside the other bedroom.

"Goodnight, you two. See you in the morning." Martha said.

"Night." Donna said.

"Night, guys, see you in the morning." Rose said.

Martha and Donna nodded. They watched as the Doctor put his arm around Rose's shoulder and led her into the bedroom. Then, they turned and went inside the other one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Martha and Donna snickered as they lay in beds next to each other. For the past half hour they had been listening to the Doctor and Rose moaning and snogging each other across the hall.

"Blimey," Donna whispered. "If this is how it's gonna be on the TARDIS, I think I'm moving to a bedroom near the back of the ship."

"Same here."

They put their hands over their mouths when they heard Rose moan the Doctor's name.

"I guess this is making up for lost time." Martha whispered to Donna.

"I guess so." Donna whispered back. "I would tell them to get a room, but I guess that's pointless since they already have one."

They giggled softly. The two of them listened as the Doctor let out another moan.

"For Christ's sake, have some consideration for your companions across the way, would ya?" Donna muttered as Martha put her hand over her mouth and laughed.

They listened for a few minutes more.

"Hey, Martha?" Donna whispered.

"What?"

"Do you dare me to go over there and tell them to knock it off?"

Martha's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't." she said.

"Oh no, try me. I wanna get to sleep sometime tonight."

Martha paused and listened to the snogging and moaning.

"Okay, I dare ya." She said.

She laughed softly as Donna rose from the bed.

"Be back in a minute." She said.

Martha put her hand over her mouth as she watched Donna walk around her bed and leave the room. She held her breath, listening intently. For a couple of minutes, she heard only the moans and kissing sounds and then suddenly…

"OI! KNOCK IT OFF! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

She heard the Doctor and Rose scream and then the Doctor yelling…

"DONNA! GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Martha turned her head and planted her face in the cushion trying to muffle her hysterical laughter as Donna ran back into the room and leapt into bed.

"I can't believe you did that!" Martha whispered to her when she calmed down enough. "What were they doing?"

"Just kissing. Nothing sexual or anything. Both of them still had their clothes…"

She trailed off. Martha frowned and turned over. She saw the Doctor standing in the doorway, arms folded across his chest as he glared at Donna angrily.

"I hope you enjoyed that little stunt, because I assure you my door will be tripled bolted once we get on board the TARDIS." He said to her.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but you were being noisy over there. Martha and I would like to sleep, you know." Donna said.

The Doctor looked down at Martha who gave him a look of innocence.

"I'm giving you one warning. If I find you in my room again, I will carry you to a blast crater, stick you in it, dump Sarmac paste in up to your neck and then Rose and I will leave you behind. And don't think I won't carry out that threat, because trust me, I will. Now good night to the both of you."

"Good night, Doctor." Donna and Martha said in unison.

He eyed both of them and then walked out of the room. Martha looked over her shoulder and then looked back at Donna.

"That took guts, even I would have never dared to go in there." She whispered to her.

"Well, that's why we got snogging sounds half the night. You gotta show the Doctor who's boss around here." Donna said. "We don't have to listen to him making out all night."

"Then, when we leave in the morning, you can stay here, how's that?" the Doctor said poking his head back in the room. "Because I have no problem dropping companions off, especially those who are gonna be trouble. Because sadly for you, I am the boss and what I say goes. Just throwing that tidbit out before I go to bed. Night night."

He stuck his head back out. Martha and Donna waited a moment more and then erupted into a fresh set of giggles before the two of them shut their eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, the four of them assembled in the kitchen. The women sat at the table as the Doctor made some more Sarmac paste.

"So, did you guys sleep well last night?" Rose asked them.

Martha and Donna glanced at each other.

"We did after you two toned down the snogging." Donna replied.

The Doctor shot her a look.

"What? I'm sorry, Doctor, I do realize that you and Rose want to reconnect after two years, but couldn't you wait till you got back to the resort? If I wanna hear two people sucking and moaning all night, I'll rent a porno movie."

"You're right, I'm sorry, that was extremely inconsiderate of us to do that to you and Martha." The Doctor said to her. "We should have waited until we got to our hotel room, but---"

"But," Rose said. "We were kissing each other goodnight and well…it just kinda snowballed into a snogging session and we didn't realize how loud we were. So, yeah, I'm really sorry we kept you up."

Donna and Martha smiled at each other.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Martha said. "I used to live in a flat with paper thin walls so it's not the first time I've heard something like that. In fact, I heard a lot worse, come to think of it."

"Sounds like the flat I had." Rose said. "Had some neighbors that used to shag every night. I thought my wall was gonna come down from all the banging on their side."

"You had a place of your own?" the Doctor said as he stirred the paste.

Rose looked back at him.

"Yup, I got my own flat after I got promoted to supervisor." She told him. "Got a nice raise then so I decided to move out."

"How did Jackie take that?" the Doctor asked.

"She was upset at first, but, you know, she knows I'm an adult and I need my space. Still, it was a good thing you weren't with me because you would have hated having to put up with her phoning me every night."

"Yeah, you're right, I am glad I wasn't there for that." The Doctor said.

Rose paused.

"Oh God, mum, she doesn't know what happened." She murmured. "She's gonna freak when she rings me and I don't answer. Doctor, is there any way we can go back over the void just so I can let her know I'm safe?"

The Doctor paused and looked at her.

"I doubt it, Rose. I don't have the technology to cross safely and I really don't feel like fighting the Arcadians for whatever they used. I just want to get off this planet and get away from them as quickly as I can."

He put his hand on her cheek when he saw the heartbroken look in her eyes.

"Rose, I'm sorry, but this is why I didn't come back to get you myself. I just don't have the technology to cross the void. I meant what I said about two universes collapsing if I tried it. If the Arcadians hadn't brought you over here, you still would have been stuck in the other reality. Jackie…she kinda figured I'd find a way back, didn't she?"

Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I think they all knew that one day you'd be back."

"Well, maybe that's what they'll think if you don't come home, that I came and got you."

"Yeah, but I think mum would have expected me to at least come over and say goodbye." Rose replied. "It wouldn't be like me to just take off and not tell her, you know."

The Doctor nodded. He turned back to the paste and stirred it as he thought.

"Rose," he said looking at her. "What happened when they abducted you? Where were you?"

"I was leaving work for the day and walking out to my car. I had just gotten to the door and put the key in the lock when this tractor beam came down and pulled me up."

The Doctor thought as he stirred the paste.

"Did anyone see this?" he said glancing back at her.

Rose thought.

"Um, maybe Terrance did. This guy I work with, I was saying goodbye to him as I came out the door." Rose said.

"Was he the only one in the building?"

"No, there were still some other people working when I left."

"So, they could have seen the tractor beam too?"

"I s'pose so, why?"

"Because if they reported you abducted to whoever was in charge, they probably phoned Jackie and Pete and told them." The Doctor replied turning off the burner.

Rose groaned and put her head in her hand.

"Oh God, mum…" Rose murmured.

Martha and Donna stared at her sympathetically as she stared down at the table. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.

"Rose, I'll try to figure out a way to get back over the void safely or at least send a message to her to tell her you're safe." He said to her. "But, I'm afraid for the moment, you're gonna be listed as missing over there."

Rose nodded. The Doctor squeezed her shoulder and leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek.

"I'll find some way to tell Jackie you're safe, I promise." He whispered to her.

"Thank you." Rose said softly.

The Doctor smiled and gave her another peck before leaning back up. He picked up the pot and spooned the paste into the bowls.

"Better eat all of this. We have a long walk ahead of us today."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Donna said. "I think once we get back to the TARDIS, I'm gonna go to my room and collapse."

"Same here, I'll be soaking my feet for several hours." Martha said.

"How long a walk is it?" Rose asked.

"'Bout ten miles." Martha replied.

"Weeell, eleven now, since we have to start from this place." The Doctor said setting bowls down in front of Rose and Martha.

"That's not too bad, I guess. I've walked further than that with the Doctor." Rose said picking up her spoon.

"Really?" Donna asked. "When?"

Rose thought as the Doctor put a bowl in front of Donna and sat down with his bowl beside her. She smiled and looked at the Doctor.

"Remember Jonquil?" she said to him.

The Doctor groaned.

"How could I forget?" he said grinning at her. "That was quite an experience."

"Why? What happened at Jonquil?" Martha asked.

"Well, first off, we landed in this huge rainforest that were inhabited by these ape-like people with big horns on their heads called the Ahtsos. Um, you know that Harry and the Hendersons movie, yeah? Well, the things looked like Harry with bull horns."

The Doctor chuckled as Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"Glad I wasn't there." Donna muttered.

"Well, we were exploring the rainforest when we stumbled onto one of their hunting camps and we got captured." Rose said stirring her paste with her spoon. "Well, they'd never seen anything like us before so they figured we were prey, so they were gonna kill us and skin us, but the Doctor managed to talk them out of it."

"Of course." The Doctor added.

"The Doctor demanded to see the chief in order to buy time for us to escape and they agreed to it. Well, little did we know the main village was about twenty five miles away."

"Oh, hell no they didn't." Martha said.

Rose nodded.

"Oh yes, they did, forced march all the way." Rose said as the Doctor nodded. "We didn't get to their camp until well after dark."

"Okay, all of a sudden eleven miles doesn't sound so bad." Donna said.

"Needless to say, by the end of it, the Doctor and I were about half dead from exhaustion." Rose said. "But, instead of letting us rest, they took us straight to the chief and the Doctor had to force himself to stay awake while he tried to convince him to let us go."

"Which wasn't easy." The Doctor said. "The chief had a nice comfy throne and I had to fight the urge to go over and just go to sleep in it. But, I have to say that Rose was in worse shape than I was. I could stand at least, the moment we got in the tent, she sank to the floor and just sat there trying to keep from passing out while I pleaded for our lives."

"So how did you get away?" Donna asked.

"Well, the chief had never seen anything like us so I used the whole we're gods story and he bought It." The Doctor said. "He immediately apologized and offered us a nice comfy tent for the night."

"And believe me, we used it." Rose added. "I barely remember what happened next because I was just about dead by that time. I remember the Doctor picking me up and carrying me to the tent, but after I heard him say we were safe, I just passed out and slept."

"So, did I. I laid her down on this cot, got in beside her, pulled this animal skin up over us and the two of us slept for, ooo, at least thirteen, fourteen hours…maybe more, but it was at least twelve because when we finally woke up, it was the next day. Then, when we came out of the tent, we were both limping from all the blisters we had on our feet. For a couple of gods, we looked completely pathetic, I have to say." He said as Rose nodded. "But, they fed us well and gave us a couple of Zors which kinda resemble the taun-tauns from the Empire Strikes Back except without the heavy coat of fur and we rode those back to the TARDIS."

"And then, once we got back into the vortex, the two of us went back to bed for another twelve hours." Rose said. "After that, it took about a week to fully recover from the walk and the blisters and the aching muscles."

"So, the next time you start in about eleven miles, just remember that." The Doctor said to Martha and Donna. "Unlike the Ahtsos, I didn't make you go on a forced march."

"Believe me, after hearing all that, I'm not complaining anymore." Donna said.

"Me either." Martha added.

The Doctor winked at Rose as she chuckled. She took a bite of Sarmac paste and swallowed.

"There was actually another planet we were on called…Fistula, I think, the one with volcanoes?"

"Yes, that was Fistula." The Doctor said.

"Well, there, we not only had to walk across rocks and boulders, but there were these lava streams and lakes we had to cross without falling in." Rose said to Donna and Martha. "It was hotter n' hell there too, I got a massive sunburn just from being around all that lava."

"Don't forget Votulista."

"Oh, ugh, yeah. That was an ice planet. Colder than hell and the ground was pure ice. We wore these special boots just so we could walk on it. We had to fight off these big bear things called Urks. They had long hair that just came all the way down to the ground. Kinda resembled big, walking dust mops with eyes. One of them swiped at the Doctor's leg and, God, just made this enormous gash. It kinda looked like he had fought with Freddy Krueger. I grabbed this big chunk of ice and hit it in the head just so it wouldn't finish off the Doctor. After that, I had to get him back to the TARDIS and I was terrified because there was this trail of blood behind us as we walked and he was whiter than the snow around us and I thought for sure he was gonna regenerate. Luckily, I got him back in time and we took him to the med bay and he told me how to get him stabilized and I did it."

The Doctor grinned when she gave them a proud smile.

"Wasn't the first time I owed my life to you." He said to her. "Like I said, that's why I love traveling with companions. The best decision I ever made in all my lives. Traveling by yourself isn't just boring, it's dangerous. I know I wouldn't be sitting here today if Rose hadn't helped chase off that Urk and got me back to the TARDIS in time."

He smiled at Martha and Donna.

"And you also have saved my life a time or two as well." He said to them. "A lot of aliens put you lot down and call you backward and weak minded, but with several very special exceptions, I've always chosen to travel with humans because not only is your kind resilient, you are extremely brave as well. Not only have I seen you three do things that would make most people die of fright, but I've also seen my other human companions rise to the challenge and come through for me when I needed them most. I think it's why I love your kind so much, human beings are just as nuts as I am."

He winked at them as they laughed. He looked at Martha and Donna.

"And guys, thank you so much for making Rose feel welcome. I know how awkward it was for her to show up out of the blue and I know it was awkward for her since she and I traveled alone for the longest time, but I can see the three of you have bonded and I'm glad. I like traveling with people who can get along and work as a team since given what we do teamwork is an absolute must. I told Rose that I thought she would like you guys and I'm glad to see I'm right."

"I like her." Donna said. "You're right, it was awkward at first, especially since she really wasn't what I expected. The few times I heard you mention her, I expected some leggy, arrogant, model type. I'm glad she's just a normal young lady."

"Yeah, me too, I was expecting a supermodel type too." Martha said.

The Doctor frowned.

"Why did you guys think Rose was like that?" he said.

"Because of the way you went on about her. How perfect she was. I'm sorry, Doctor, but perfect to me is Cindy Crawford or Tyra Banks, not…"

Martha trailed off.

"I mean, Rose, I'm not meaning you aren't beautiful, because you are, but…"

"It's alright, I understand your meaning." Rose said to her. "I'm more…down to earth beautiful not tons of plastic surgery and so thin you can count every rib on my body beautiful."

"I beg to differ, those skinny anorexic models are not beautiful." The Doctor said making a face. "When you can count every rib on your body, you need to be seeing a therapist, not posing in front of a camera. I realize that's the current definition of beauty on Earth, but people like Kate Moss fills me with pity, not lust. How humans ever decided that being thinner than a rail was attractive is beyond me. I'd rather have someone like Rose where at least I have some flesh to hold on to. Kate Moss, ugh, If I ever meet the poor waif I'm gonna stuff a bleedin' sandwich down her throat. It amazes me that she even has the strength to stand upright."

He shook his head.

"Anyway, I could go on and on about that all day, but I'll spare you all my little lecture on body image and self esteem and just finish up my Sarmac paste so we can get going."

At that, all of them dug into their meal and fell into a companionable silence as they ate.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Everyone ready?" the Doctor asked as they stepped outside the house.

The three women nodded.

"Good, then let's get going." He said. "I wanna try to get back to the TARDIS by tonight at least. I'm sure the Arcadians are still nearby and I'd rather be off the planet before they've discovered I've found Rose."

He took Rose's hand and they headed off. They managed to get several feet away from the house before they heard another explosion echoing in the distance.

"Guess we're not the only ones who are awake at this hour." The Doctor said.

"You don't think we're in danger of running into them on the way back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked.

The Doctor frowned.

"I don't know, I hope they stay where they were yesterday, but you never know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. If we do end up in the middle of the fighting, we'll handle it like we always do." He said. "Until that time, don't worry about it."

Rose nodded. They turned to their right and headed off towards the field.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To their immense relief, the battle was in the exact same place as yesterday so they could walk across the field without any fear of injury. It was a warm, sunny day and the four friends chatted softly as they headed towards the TARDIS.

Rose held onto the Doctor's hand enjoying the feel of it. After two years, it felt so good to hold his hands again. She had missed doing it while she in the other universe. The feel of him beside her, the sound of his voice and his laughter, his sparkling, brown eyes and handsome face, she drank it all in like an alcoholic on an all night binge. She looked up at him and silently vowed that nothing would ever separate them again.

She was also glad now that Martha and Donna were with them. At first, she had been unsure of having two other women traveling with them and even resentful, fearing that the intimacy they once enjoyed would be nonexistent now. But, the more she got to know them, the more she liked them. Both of them were sweet, funny women and it felt good to have someone to talk shop with, just like Sarah Jane. Traveling with the Doctor made her a member of a very exclusive club and it was hard to talk to people about it without getting blank stares and murmurs about needing therapy. Only the other companions knew what it was like sharing a life with the Doctor and there were times in the past when she felt isolated not being able to share her thoughts and feelings about what was happening to her on a daily basis. That was one of the reasons why she had asked the Doctor to invite Sarah Jane back just so she could have someone who had been there that she could swap stories with and get advice from. Granted, once the Doctor and her had become closer and became more intimate, then she did love that it was just the two of them, but now she was looking forward to not being the only girl in the TARDIS. She smiled thinking of the stunt Donna had pulled the night before. Perhaps, the three of them could get together and come up with another practical joke to play on the Doctor one night. Or, they could all have a movie night and play the chick flicks that the Doctor shied away from. Just the three of them eating popcorn and chatting about the movie and the hunky actor in it and crying at the sad spots. The more Rose thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

"You know, I think I'll join you in that foot soak when we get back." Donna said to Martha. "My feet are already beginning to ache again."

"Be my guest." Martha replied.

Rose looked around at them.

"You know, the Doctor has something for blisters that works better than a foot soak." She said.

"He does?" Donna asked.

"Yes, I do." The Doctor said glancing back at her. "Special Sirius mixture. Sirius has very rocky terrain so blisters are a normal occurrence for the Sirians. I used the mixture when we were recovering from the forced march and several other occasions besides that. Most of the time the blisters clear up overnight, although in the case of the forced march it took two days just because there were so many. But yes, once we get back I'll get you some to put on your feet."

"Thank you." Martha said breathing a sigh of relief.

They stopped short when a little shrew like animal ran in front of the Doctor and Rose. They watched as the furry green mammal scurried away.

"I'm surprised there's any animals left after all the fighting they've been doing." Rose said.

"So am I, that's why I stopped to look at it." The Doctor said. "If I were him, I'd seriously think about coming back to the TARDIS with us."

They resumed walking.

"It's a shame there's a war going on." Rose said. "From what I've seen of the planet, the scenery is very pretty."

"It is," the Doctor said nodding. "I have been here before the fighting started and this whole planet used to be gorgeous. Very picturesque, it was. I'm not sure where we are, but somewhere on this planet there is a mountain range that is just breathtaking. I was here in my fifth life with Nyssa and Tegan and our TARDIS was near there so one night we brought tents out and just camped out under the stars and in the morning when the suns rose, it hit the snow on the mountain peaks and Rassilon it was beautiful. The snow sparkled. I wish you guys had been there."

He thought for a moment.

"Actually, I could take you back to some point in time before the fighting and show it to you. I do have a time machine after all. Would you guys like to see that?"

"Yes." The three women said in unison.

The Doctor beamed.

"Alright, once we get rested up at the resort, we'll go back for a quick look see. Actually, maybe we will camp out too. The stars are gorgeous. Back then, the air was perfectly clear and the stars were a lot more brilliant than they are on Earth. All of you will love it. Maybe I'll even bring along my telescope and we can do a bit of star gazing as well. "

The three women smiled at the happy expression on the Doctor's face. They knew that this was what he lived for. Coming up with fabulous planets and spectacular sights to show his friends. It made him happy that he had people who were so eager to see the wonders of the universe and this in turn made the three women happy. The Doctor had so much grief in his life; it was wonderful when those rare moments of contentment and happiness came around. It made everything they went through with him worthwhile. Each of them loved the Doctor in her own way; they wanted only the best in life for him especially since he had given them so much in return.

After two hours, the ruins near the TARDIS finally appeared in the distance and Donna and Martha rejoiced knowing that it wouldn't be too much longer until they could rest and relax away from the war torn planet. Rose stared at them in confusion until the Doctor explained why they were so happy and then she rejoiced along with them.

The Doctor decided to take a short break and all of them sat down together in the grass. The wind was blowing lightly across the field and Rose put her hands behind her and leaned back, closing her eyes as the breeze caressed her face. She smiled as the warmth of the suns beat down on her face warming it. Donna and Martha looked at her and then looked at the Doctor who was watching her quietly with a loving smile on his face. Donna looked behind her and lay down in the grass and Martha did the same. Both of them put their hands behind their head and enjoyed the breeze as the Doctor lay down on his side and stretched his legs out. Rose also lay back and all of them lay there in the field enjoying the sunny day. The only thing marring the pleasant scene was the sound of explosions echoing in the distance. Rose listened to it and felt a pang thinking of Tamoc, Jallel and Shova. She wondered if they were alright. It seemed a shame for them and all the rest of the soldiers to be fighting on a lovely day like this. Instead of lying in the grass enjoying the breeze, they were all killing each other. The thought of it depressed Rose and she let out a sad sigh.

"What's wrong, Rose?" the Doctor asked.

When she told him, he gave her a sad smile and nodded.

"I agree, but that's their choice." He said to her. "You know, this planet is big enough for the both of them and they could learn to co-exist peacefully if they just set aside their dispute and worked out a truce. But, like I said, the Gargumens are stubborn and I suspect they are the reason this war has been going on for as long as it has."

"Hasn't anyone ever tried to make peace and work on a truce?" Martha asked. "I mean, in 175 years, no one from either side or even another planet has stepped in and tried to stop the insanity?"

The Doctor thought.

"If memory serves me right, there was an attempt about a hundred years into the war to bring it to a close. Not by either side, by outside parties from neighboring planets. I think they were all nervous that the war might spill over onto their planets plus the other planets were trading with Gargumenta for their minerals and the war had hurt that."

He scratched his chin.

"As I recall, seven or eight ambassadors from the various planets came down to try to get the two parties to meet and declare a truce. But, it was unsuccessful because the Gargumens shot all of them once they learned what they had come for. After that, the other planets washed their hands of them and now the only ones who can stop the fighting are either the Gargumens or the Lox. And like I said, that's highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll go on until both races are extinct. So yes, i'm sure as much as all of them would like to be out here sunning themselves, that won't happen because their greed and stubbornness is forcing them to annihilate one another."

"Namoc said that military service on Loxus was mandatory." Rose said.

The Doctor nodded.

"It's the same here. No one on either planet is given much of an education or a childhood for that matter because each side raises its offspring to be mindless cannon fodder. You saw how eager those three were to get back into the battle. That's a result of the brainwashing both sides do to get their people to fight a war neither side has any hope of winning."

"What about the women though? Namoc said women didn't go into battle."

The Doctor gave her a sad look.

"Women on either side are basically brood mares. Girls are brainwashed to want nothing more than to bear male children that they and the government can raise to be the next generation of soldiers. I imagine that's why they were so shocked you were here, Rose. To them, your place is in the bedroom churning out soldiers for the war effort."

"Heh, I wondered why they looked so shocked when I told them I'd been in battles before and I could more than hold my own as a fighter."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"You told them that? Blimey, it's a wonder they didn't have a heart attack at hearing that."

He smiled when Rose laughed.

"Well, you guys about ready to trudge the last few miles to the TARDIS?" he asked.

"I am." Donna said. "I wanna get this over with so we can get out of here."

"Same here." Martha said.

"Yeah, I wanna see the TARDIS again." Rose added.

"Then, let's get to it, gang."

All of them groaned as they slowly got to their feet. They hobbled along for a few minutes until their feet were used to the pressure once more and then they continued walking towards home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another hour passed and they reached the ruins. All of them whooped and cheered when they saw the TARDIS across the field. Rose felt tears come to her eyes staring at it. She couldn't remember seeing anything so wonderful in her whole life. The Doctor noticed her crying and put his arm around her. He kissed her tears and nuzzled her cheek.

"Welcome home, angel." He whispered to her.

"God, I thought I'd never see it again. I wish we could just teleport in from here. It's gonna be torture walking towards it especially since I'm too tired to run now."

The Doctor chuckled softly.

"I think the old girl will be beside herself when she sees you. She's missed you almost as much as I have."

"I missed her too. Oh God, how I've missed her. Finally, I can start living again." Rose said.

The Doctor kissed her cheek.

"Then, let's not delay the homecoming any longer." He said.

He took her hand. All of them walked down the hill, their spirits and their strength renewed upon seeing the TARDIS. With each step they got closer and closer and Rose felt herself becoming more and more excited. Finally, she would get back to the life she loved. No more desk job, no more 9 to 9 drudgery. She would be back at the Doctor's side sharing his life and his adventures. The thought of that made her squeal and the Doctor laughed, delighted at her happiness. He squeezed her hand tightly thanking Rassilon that fortune had finally smiled on him and brought back his Rose to him. Suddenly, his life didn't seem so bleak anymore. All his demons that had reared their ugly heads after she was taken away from him were receding back into the darkness as the light of her love flooded his soul. The contentment and peace he knew before Canary Wharf was back and the Doctor was now just as excited as she was to get in the TARDIS and get back in the vortex. His mind was flooded with possibilities about where he should take her. So many good choices, it was hard to pick just one. After they went back to Gargumenta's past to see the mountains, it would be hard to figure out just where to go. That's what Rose's return had done to him, it made him feel the way he first felt when he started to travel in time and space. She was his whole life and he vowed he would never lose her again even if it meant surrendering more lives to keep her by his side.

Another half hour passed and at long last they had reached the TARDIS. Rose ran up to it and kissed the front door.

"I missed you, girl!" she cried out.

The TARDIS let out a loud rumble and Rose wept as she laid her head against it. The Doctor, Donna and Martha stood behind her and smiled watching as Rose and the TARDIS were reunited.

After a minute, Rose forced herself to step aside and the Doctor reached into his pocket for the TARDIS key and stepped forward to unlock the door. He swung it open and his grin split his face as Rose let out another cry of joy at seeing the familiar interior.

"Oh God, if this is a dream, I hope I never wake up." She said weeping.

The Doctor stepped forward and took her hand.

"I'm happy to tell you, Rose, that this is most definitely NOT a dream."

He kissed her head when Rose wept harder at that.

"Come inside, my Rose." He whispered to her. "Your home is waiting."

"Oh God." Rose sobbed.

The Doctor let go of her hand. Donna and Martha entered first and then the Doctor followed them. Rose let out a sigh of relief.

"Home, at last I'm home." She said walking towards the ramp.

She had just reached the threshold when suddenly Triton came around the open door. Before Rose could react, he dropped the medallion over her head and then…

Rose Tyler moved no more.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

_What? What's wrong with me? I can't move. Why can't I move? Someone just dropped some kind of necklace around my neck. Is this why I can't move? Oh God, this can't be happening. I'm standing right outside the TARDIS and I can't move to get inside. The Doctor and Donna and Martha are just standing there looking at me with shocked looks on their faces. Doctor, what's happened to me? Why can't I move? Oh my God, I can't say it to him. I can't speak. I can't move. Doctor, help me! Please, help me!_

The Doctor stared at Rose not believing what he was seeing. A moment ago, Rose was flesh and blood and now there was a crystal statue in her place. He looked at her face. There was the look of complete happiness that was on her face when she was entering the TARDIS. It was there plain as day. He could even see a happy tear frozen on her cheek for all eternity. The Doctor stared at the statue uncomprehendingly not wanting to believe that Rose had just been taken away from him again. He glanced at Donna and Martha and saw they had the same looks of disbelief on their faces. Then, he saw him. Triton stepped around the open door and smirked at him.

"At last, Doctor, we have our revenge." He said.

The Doctor stared at him in wide-eyed shock. Then slowly the shock was replaced by complete, all-consuming rage. Both Donna and Martha backed up when they saw his eyes turn jet black and his body begin to shake with unrestrained fury.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared at Triton.

With a scream of unbridled rage, he lunged past Rose at Triton. Triton raised his hand and suddenly the Doctor was propelled backwards by an unknown force. Donna and Martha had just enough time to let out a gasp of surprise before the Doctor slammed into them. The three of them fell to the ground and were pinned there by the same force. All of them struggled to get up as Triton walked past Rose and stepped into the TARDIS.

"So this is the Time Lord's time machine. Interesting." He said looking around.

"Let Rose go! Whatever you've done to her, undo it this instant!" the Doctor screamed at him.

He stared at him, furious, as Triton came up to him and stared down at him calmly.

"I told you, Doctor, the Arcadians would have their revenge for what you did. One way or another you would suffer for your crimes and what better way to make you suffer than to have the one you love frozen as a statue for all eternity."

He pointed to Rose.

"This is more than just a mere statue, Doctor. Rose is still alive in there. She can see and hear everything that is going on, but she is powerless to move or speak. She will stay that way forever. There is only one way to break the spell and only I know how to undo it."

"No, please, I'm begging you, let her go. Do whatever you want to me, but don't do this to her." The Doctor said desperately.

"No, Doctor, this is a fitting punishment for you. To be denied the sound of your lover's voice or the feel of her flesh is what you deserve."

The Doctor's gritted his teeth as he tried to break free of the magical restraint holding him down.

"If I get free, I will kill you with my bare hands!" he snarled.

"If you kill me, she will be trapped forever like this." Triton said gesturing to Rose.

"Well, it doesn't matter, since I'm sure you won't tell me how to free her anyway." The Doctor replied. "If she must stay like this forever, the very least I can do is see you dead for it."

Triton smirked at him. He extended his hand towards him and the three captives screamed in agony as electricity coursed through their bodies. As his body convulsed, the Doctor thought he heard Rose's anguished scream in his head. He wasn't sure if she really was screaming or if he was just imagining it. The screams from his two companions weren't an illusion, however, and the Doctor ached inside as he listened to their suffering.

Triton tortured the Doctor and his companions for a few minutes and then stopped. The three of them gasped for air as Triton walked closer to them and bent down to look at the Doctor.

"I must bid you and your companions farewell, Doctor, but I will say this before I go. As soon as I leave, the restraint holding you down will disappear, but if I were you, I would take your companions and the statue of your love and go back to exploring time and space. As you have just seen, I am very proficient in the magical arts and I will not hesitate to use every spell I know against you and your friends should you try to board my ship. You brought this on yourself when you decided to bring destruction upon our planet."

"If I am to blame for the devastation for your planet, then you are also at fault!" the Doctor yelled at him. "When I was fighting the Daleks, not one Arcadian came out to help me! Not a single one of your people lifted a finger to fight the Daleks; you just stayed in your homes cowering in fear. If you were so concerned about me ripping up your planet, why didn't you come outside and try to stop me?"

"Because we are a peace loving people, Doctor." Triton hissed at him. "It is not in our nature to fight battles, we leave that to the lesser species! That is why we didn't help you, because we didn't believe in you or your little war. As for trying to stop you, we were too busy trying to protect ourselves, our mates and our offspring to do that."

"Then, you share the blame for the destruction of Arcadia." The Doctor said. "I understand completely about you being pacifists, but even a pacifist will stand up and defend their planet if its being destroyed right in front of them. What you did was both cowardly and foolish. What would have happened if I hadn't been fighting the Daleks? At least I tried to protect your planet from them. If I'd just gone on my merry way and not given a damn about you or your people, the Daleks would have taken over your planet and enslaved you all and believe me, they would have been a thousand times worse than me. You should be thankful that at least someone had the courage to risk his lives to save your cowardly hides. I hate to say this but I'm sorry now I ever stepped foot on Arcadia. So, go, you have your so-called revenge now. I hope turning Rose into a crystal statue has magically erased all the heartache and bitterness you feel inside. You just destroyed a young life that was filled with hope and promise all for the sake of a stupid, pointless vendetta. Let me tell you something about her just so you know whom it is you have punished. This woman who you have just sentenced to a living death is one of the most sweetest, kindest people I have ever known. She cares for the people she meets and I'm sure that would include you and your lot. Rose is just as peace loving as you are, in fact I venture to say that if you had actually gotten to know her, she probably would have reminded you of one of your own. But no, getting to know her wouldn't be a good idea because then you wouldn't be able to turn her into a statue. Just keep that in mind as you're going back to your ship."

Triton paused. He turned to look at Rose and for a moment, the Doctor wondered if he was going to change his mind and free her. But then he turned around and looked at him again.

"It is unfortunate that Rose Tyler must suffer for your sins, Doctor. I'm sure she is a nice person, but the same can be said for my people. You never got to know them either. I'm sure if you got to know them, you would have thought twice before rampaging through our villages---"

"I WAS GOING ON THIS SO-CALLED RAMPAGE BECAUSE I WAS FOLLOWING THE DALEKS!" the Doctor bellowed. "THEY WERE THE ONES WHO WERE DOING THE BULK OF THE DESTRUCTION. IF YOU HAD POKED YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR HIDEY-HOLES FOR TWO SECONDS, MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT! I KEEP TELLING YOU I'M SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU. I LIVE WITH WHAT HAPPENED EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE AND IT'LL BE WITH ME UNTIL THE DAY I DIE, BUT DOING THIS TO ROSE IS NOT THE ANSWER! SHE WASN'T INVOLVED IN IT. SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ME THEN! IF YOU'RE GONNA TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON SOMEONE, THEN TAKE IT OUT ON SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTUALLY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"No, this is far better, Doctor. This way you will be left in misery for the rest of your life."

"Then, you are a coward." The Doctor spat out. "You don't want to fight me face to face because you know I'll defeat you. It's less of a risk for you to sneak up and drape a medallion around an innocent woman's neck and pin her friends to the ground. I hope to Rassilon that no one threatens you and your people again because next time I won't lift a single, solitary finger to help. So, good luck, hope you live the rest of your cowardly life somewhere safe from attack. I've washed my hands of the Arcadians for good."

Triton shrugged.

"It matters not how you feel about us, Doctor. If you want nothing more to do with us, then we welcome that. It means that when we do find a new world to settle, we won't have to worry about you destroying it again. However, I pity the others who will meet up with you and lose their homes and lives. You are a menace to the universe, Doctor. You and your friends think you are helping others but all you do is cause death and destruction. Perhaps Miss Tyler here will make you think twice now before you do any more damage. Goodbye, Doctor.

The Doctor, Martha and Donna yelled and screamed curses at him as he turned and walked out of the TARDIS. He walked a few more feet turned and stood still. A moment later, the tractor beam came down blinding the three captives. When the light finally faded, Triton was gone.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

A minute after Triton disappeared, the enchantment was lifted and the Doctor, Martha and Donna leapt up. The Doctor ran to Rose and threw his arms around her. Tears ran down Donna and Martha's cheeks as they listened to the Doctor weeping uncontrollably. Martha swallowed hard as her mind flashed back to when the Master had died. His anguish had been great then, but this far surpassed it. Both women stood still, unsure of what to do or say as The Doctor let out a ragged sob and put his hands on the side of Rose's head.

"This isn't the end, my Rose, I promise it. I will find a way to free you if it takes me the rest of my lives. I'm not giving up, so don't you give up either."

He leaned his forehead against hers and murmured, "I will save you." Over and over softly.

After a few minutes, the Doctor managed to get himself back under control. He kissed Rose's forehead and looked back at the two women.

"Stand back, I'm gonna bring her inside." He said to them.

The two women nodded and quickly got out of the way as the Doctor grabbed Rose under her arms and gently picked her up. They watched as he turned and walked towards the console with her.

"Do you need help?" Martha asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm fine, thanks." The Doctor said to her.

He sat her down gently by the console and looked at her. He swallowed hard looking at the ecstatic look on her face and he had to turn his head away for a moment to keep from losing it again. When he finally got himself under control again, he forced himself to look at her. He glanced down at her legs. They were spread apart.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Donna asked.

"I don't think we can keep her upright in here." The Doctor said looking at her and Martha. "You know how the TARDIS is, one hard jolt and she might fall over and shatter…"

He trailed off. Martha and Donna ached inside when they saw him swallow hard and take a deep breath. He put his hand against Rose's cheek.

"It's too dangerous for you to be out here, angel." He said to her. "We have to lay you down where you won't be in danger of falling over and breaking apart. I'm gonna put you in your bed until I can figure out a way to free you from this, alright?"

"Are we going to go back to the Arcadian's ship then?" Martha asked.

"Not yet, first we have to figure out a way to cancel out Triton's abilities so we can fight him on an equal footing." The Doctor said. "But, we will go back. He is the key to restoring Rose and I will make him change her back if it kills me."

He picked her up under the arms again.

"Follow me. I might need your help this time." He said to them. "Once I get Rose in bed, I'll need to tie her down just in case something happens and the TARDIS lurches. I want her absolutely safe and secure until we get her back to normal."

Martha and Donna nodded. They followed the Doctor as he carried Rose to her old room. Once they reached it, Donna got ahead of him and opened the door. The Doctor thanked her and brought Rose inside.

"Here we are, Rose, your old room. Just as you left it."

Martha put her hand over her mouth when she noticed the Doctor was on the verge of losing it again. He took a deep, ragged breath and forced himself to look at Martha.

"Could you pull the covers down? I don't know if Rose can get cold now, but I want to make sure she's comfortable."

"Yes, Doctor." Martha said rushing to the bed.

She pulled the covers down to the end and stepped back.

"Donna, I'm gonna turn Rose around, grab her legs and I'll tip her over gently. Then, we'll put her in the bed."

"Yes, Doctor." Donna said.

The Doctor walked over to the side of the bed. He sat Rose down gently and slowly turned her around. Donna waited until she was completely turned around before walking up and grabbing her legs.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Ready when you are." Donna replied.

The Doctor nodded. Slowly, he gently leaned Rose back as Donna brought her legs up in the air. When she was off the ground, they slowly walked over as Martha ran to the other side. Martha grabbed onto her right arm and the three of them gently brought her down on the bed. When they were done moving her into the exact center of it, the Doctor grabbed the covers and pulled them up to her neck. He smiled tenderly at Rose.

"Rest now, angel." He whispered, running his finger across her cold, lifeless cheek.

He looked back at Donna and Martha.

"There's some rope in the supply closet. I'm gonna go get it and you can help me tie Rose down. Just stay here and keep an eye on her while I'm gone."

Donna and Martha nodded. The Doctor smiled at them and quickly hurried out of the room. As soon as he left, Donna and Martha walked to the head of the bed and looked down at her.

"The Doctor will free you, Rose, you can count on it." Martha said.

"And we're gonna help him, no matter what it takes." Donna added. "You're too nice a girl to spend the rest of your life like this."

"Yeah, we're not about to let our new best friend spend the rest of eternity as a statue. We need you to help us irritate the Doctor."

"That's right," Donna said. "You have to help us give him wedgies and put ice down his trousers and kick him in the bum whenever he's standing at the console. We need you to stand with us behind him and sing sappy romantic ballads off key until he screams at us to stop. We don't wanna do all this and have you miss out on it, Rose."

"And besides, the Doctor needs you, Rose. He needs you so much. Donna and me have never seen him this happy. We don't want him to go back to the man he was before. That's why we're gonna do everything in our power to help him get you back to normal. Just don't give up, okay? We'll come in here and keep you company. We're not about to let you stay in here collecting dust. You're a part of the team now, not a paperweight. Just relax and keep calm. We're gonna come through for you, I promise."

The Doctor stood at the door silently listening to Martha and Donna talking to Rose. A knot formed in his throat and tears coursed down his cheeks as he heard them vowing to help her no matter what it took. He was so glad that both of them wanted her back just as much as he did. He knew now that with their help, they would find a solution. He didn't want to interrupt them since they were trying to comfort Rose, but he wanted to get this over with so they could start planning a way to get her back. He entered the room and Donna and Martha paused and looked at him. He nodded down at the rope in his hands.

"Help me tie this around the bed, but not too tight. Again, I don't know how much Rose can feel in there and I don't want to tie her down so tightly it hurts her. Just tight enough that she'll stay in bed if the TARDIS lurches."

Donna and Martha nodded. The Doctor walked over to him and they helped him as they wound the rope around and under the bed securing Rose to the bed. They tied it off and stood back up. They looked down at her face.

"At least he caught Rose in a happy moment." Donna said.

"Yeah, at least we don't have to look at a sad or scared face." Martha added.

"She may look happy, but I doubt at the moment she's anything but." The Doctor said.

He cursed in Gallifreyan under his breath.

"Damn him. I'll make him pay for this." He said in English. "I'll find a way to get back at him and make him undo this if it's the last thing I do."

He sighed angrily.

"Ranting about it is not gonna undo it though." He said. "We might as well get back in the vortex and get away from here before someone decides to start battling outside the TARDIS. We were lucky to land where we did. One well-placed missile would have blown this ship to bits. I don't want to press our luck."

Martha and Donna nodded. The Doctor leaned over and kissed Rose briefly on the lips before he leaned back up and followed his companions out of the room.

As the Doctor closed the door behind him, he failed to see the golden glow that flickered briefly inside the statue's head before it faded away and all was still again.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Triton stood on the deck of his ship, his hands behind his back as he looked down at the war-torn planet below him.

"My brother, is it done?"

He turned and looked at Pelios behind him.

"It is done. The amulet is around Rose Tyler's neck. Vengeance is at last ours." He said to him.

"I see." Pelios said softly as he lowered his head to the floor.

Triton walked towards him.

"Is something wrong, my brother, you seem troubled." He said.

Pelios looked at him.

"Did we do the right thing, Triton?" he said to him.

Triton frowned.

"Yes, we have punished the Doctor for what he did to our world."

"But, we have involved a human girl who had nothing to do with it in the first place." Pelios said.

Triton shifted uneasily. For the past half hour, he had been trying to push the Doctor's words about Rose from his mind.

"It is unfortunate what happened to her, but that is what comes of siding with the Doctor. Sometimes, you must pay the price for his sins." He said.

"And how is that right?" Pelios said walking up to him. "You heard the Doctor, she wasn't even there. If guilt by association is reason enough to condemn her, why did you not turn the other two females to stone as well?"

Triton was silent.

"Rose Tyler is not the enemy, brother. She wasn't the one who destroyed Arcadia. How is turning her into a crystal statue bringing justice to us? What you did to her is no better than what the Doctor did to our families and friends. In fact, it's worse. An innocent girl is frozen for all eternity and will never die. At least our loved ones have peace on the other side, what will she have? All you have done is made the Doctor angry and now he will not stop until Rose is freed or he exacts vengeance upon us. You have just caused the destroyer to come after us again. So, you tell me, was turning an innocent human girl into a statue really worth it?"

Triton stared at him.

"I did what I thought was right for the good of our people." He said softly. "I am the leader now so it is my responsibility to make the Time Lord pay for his crimes."

"I repeat, brother, how is punishing a human girl making the Time Lord pay for his crimes? How does that make us better than him? We have done the exact thing to him that he did to us. So, how are we superior? You have lowered yourself to his level now. We Arcadians always thought ourselves better than the Time Lords. More superior than those ancient, arrogant senators who thought themselves near gods. With one fell swoop, you have just proven that wrong."

"Funny, brother, I did not hear any of this when I was explaining my plan to you." Triton said angrily. "You seemed to be in favor of using Rose Tyler to get back at him."

"And I was, at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how wrong it was to do this." Pelios replied. "Vengeance never solves anything. It only begets more vengeance. The Time Lord will come after us now and if he exacts his revenge, will that mean we will seek revenge in return? And on and on it goes until he or us and our people are dead? Is that what you want? Look down at that planet beneath us, my brother, and you shall see what holding onto grudges brings. Two races down there have been warring for 175 years and destroying the planet because neither side is willing to back down. Is this going to be our fate as well? If we find another planet, will we have to move again because the destroyer annihilates it in his quest for vengeance? And then again and again until peace is unknown to our people? Is this justice, brother?"

Triton stared at him silently.

"I only did what I thought was best. You're right, my brother, I let thoughts of revenge blind me to my actions. I made an innocent woman suffer because I wanted our enemy to suffer. What you speak of really might come to pass and it is all my fault."

"Then, why not make things right before it goes any further? Change the human back and apologize to the Time Lord before he comes after us." Pelios said.

Triton thought a moment and then nodded.

"Yes, I will make amends. Send me down to the surface. I only hope I can undo the damage I did before it is too late." He said.

Pelios nodded. He turned and followed his brother as he walked out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Donna and Martha sat side by side on the captain's chair and watched the Doctor while he worked the controls on the console. They were now back in the vortex and heading towards Cocoleus Droxeminus. The Doctor figured that they should at least use the rooms to rest in while they were figuring out what to do next. He had been silent ever since they had left Gargumenta and neither woman was willing to break the silence first.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping coming from the monitor. They looked over and saw a Gallifreyan symbol flashing on and off on the screen. The Doctor ran over and stared at it.

"What?" he said in a high-pitched voice.

"What, Doctor, what is it?" Martha asked him.

He didn't answer her. He looked up at the TARDIS ceiling.

"Where? Where is the intruder?" he asked her.

The color drained from his face when the TARDIS rumbled out an answer.

"No." he said in a hushed voice.

"What, Doctor?" Martha said.

"Follow me! There's an intruder in Rose's room!" he yelled as he ran towards the back door.

Martha and Donna looked at each other and then, leaping up, followed him out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a flash of light and Triton reached the surface of Gargumenta.

He looked around when he didn't see the TARDIS. He paused making sure it was the right place and when he determined it was, he cursed loudly.

He pulled a little transmitter out of his robes.

"Take me back up, the Time Lord is gone. He might be headed for us even now!"

He waited a moment and then the tractor beam came down. A moment later, it faded away and Triton was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
The Doctor tore down the hall towards Rose's room, his hearts thumping in his chest. If Triton had someone gotten himself onto the TARDIS and was hurting Rose, he would tear him limb from limb. He reached her room and threw open the door fully prepared to fight whoever was in there. What he saw threw him completely off guard and he could only stand at the door and stare into the room in stunned silence. Donna and Martha ran up to him and stopped.

"Doctor, what is it. Who's in the room?" Martha asked.

"It can't be." The Doctor murmured as he kept his eyes focused on the intruder.

Martha and Donna looked at each other. They walked around the Doctor until they both could see into the room. Then, they too stopped short. Rose was standing by the bed fully alive and conscious. The ropes that had held her to the bed were lying on the floor. All of them had been burned in the middle. They looked at her and their eyes bugged out of their heads. She was glowing with a golden aura and her eyes held the same eerie golden glow. The sight took both of them aback.

"What the hell is this?" Donna muttered to Martha.

"Search me, I've never seen anything like it before."

They looked at the Doctor.

"Doctor, what's going on? Is this the Arcadian's doing?" Martha asked him.

The Doctor ignored her. He slowly stepped into the room.

"You can't be here." He said. "I drew the power out of you."

"You drew the vortex out. I have always been inside Rose. The vortex only gave me the means to defeat the Daleks and save you from death. I have existed within Rose Tyler since the moment of her birth."

Donna and Martha finally got over their shock and came into the room beside the Doctor.

"Rose?" Martha said hesitantly.

"No, I am the Bad Wolf." She said looking at Martha.

"The what?" Donna said. "Bad Wolf? What the hell are you?"

"I am the protector of Rose Tyler." The Bad Wolf said looking at her. "I am a guardian of the universe and its creatures. Ever since the universe was formed, I watched over it along with the other guardians and tried to keep the forces of evil from gaining the upper hand. I have kept a special eye on the Doctor ever since he started his mission and I have tried to help him whenever he needed it by orchestrating events and people and leading his companions to his side through subtle telepathy. His mission is extremely important to those guardians who wish good to rein in the universe and I made it my personal mission to see that he succeeded. But, the Time War threw the universe into chaos and the darkness it brought threatened the harmony and balance that the Doctor was trying to keep going. It was then that I went searching for a corporeal host to inhabit so I could work more closely with him to restore the balance. I searched the universe to find one who was worthy and then I found Rose Tyler. Although she looks like a simple human girl from the outside, inside there beats the courageous heart of a warrior. When I saw her emerging from the birth canal, I knew that this was the one who was worthy enough to help the Doctor in his mission. I then entered her brain and became one with her. As she grew, I helped influence her and others around her to give her the necessary tools to become the warrior I knew her to be. I influenced her mother to enroll her in gymnastics so she would have some physical training. I instilled in her a voracious love of learning and an open mind so she would be prepared to travel with you. I also taught her to be compassionate and care about others deeply so she could be empathetic to those around her and want to help them. All this was in anticipation of the day she would become your companion. And when that day came and Rose Tyler refused at first to go along with you, it was I who influenced you to come back for her and convinced her to go. All that I have done to prepare Rose has made her into an ideal companion for you, Doctor and it was those traits I instilled in her that made you fall deeply in love with her."

She smiled.

"A relationship I wholeheartedly encouraged." She added. "You have referred to her in the past as your perfect Rose and that is what she is. Not perfect in the sense that she is infallible, but perfect for you, Doctor. She was born to be your equal and so she is."

She looked at Donna and Martha.

"I am not slighting either of you in either way. You also have your part to play in balancing the universe; it is no accident that the Doctor met you or any of his companions. All were chosen because we guardians of light knew you could assist him in his mission. But Rose is the one who is most like the Doctor, she was molded to be his helpmate in every way because the Doctor needs one like himself to fulfill his mission. And so I have kept watch over you and all you care about, Doctor, and I have tried to keep you and your companions from dying. Although," she said smiling. "There were, of course, times when I had to step back and let nature take its course, both with you and the companions you lost. As Sarah Jane so eloquently put it, everything has its time and everything must come to an end. But, until that time, I have been guarding over all of you. That is why I am here now. I have freed Rose Tyler from the enchantment placed on her and destroyed the amulet so it can no longer hurt her. She is far too important to you and the universe to be frozen forever as a statue."

The Doctor smiled.

"Then, you have my deepest gratitude." He said. "I am in your debt for this."

"There is no need to repay me for this. It is my duty to watch over Rose and keep her safe. You have done more than enough for me and the other guardians of light by trying to keep the universe in balance."

She smiled.

"Now, before you start worrying about Rose's brain frying and having to draw me out of her, I can assure you she is in no danger. I have only come forward to free her from the spell and then I will retreat back into her mind to keep my silent watch over you and all who help you."

She grinned.

"Of course if you want to kiss her like you did the last time, be my guest. I'm sure Rose will not mind it one bit." She said winking.

The Doctor laughed.

"And now, my dear Doctor, I will go now. Please know that you are not alone in the universe. There are those who do know what you and your friends are doing and are making every effort to help you any way we can. Even Rose's return to this universe was orchestrated by us so that she would be at your side once more where she belongs."

"Then again, I am in your debt for that." The Doctor replied.

The Bad Wolf nodded.

"And, because Rose is worried about her mother not knowing, I will go to her tonight in a dream and let her know her daughter is safe and with you. That way, you can concentrate on what you need to do. That universe is being watched over by others, it does not need your protection. You are needed here."

"Again, thank you, I know Rose will rest easier knowing her mum knows where she is." The Doctor said.

"And now, my valiant warrior, I will bid you goodbye for now. Once I have retreated back into Rose's mind, you will find that she will not remember what has just occurred just like she was unaware of what she did the last time until you told her. Just keep that in mind when she wonders why she has been restored."

The Doctor nodded. He watched as the Bad Wolf shut her eyes and the aura faded away. A moment later, Rose opened her eyes and blinked as she looked around in confusion.

"What? What happened?"

She paused.

"Did…did I just say that out loud?" she said.

The Doctor grinned.

"Yes, you did. You're back, Rose. You've been restored to normal."

Rose let out a cry of joy and flew into the Doctor's arms. He wrapped his arms tight around her and kissed her temple. Martha and Donna looked at each other and laughing, they ran around and hugged her from both sides the four of them stood together holding each other and laughing.

"But, how? How did you free me?" Rose said looking up at the Doctor.

"I didn't. the Bad Wolf did."

Rose stared at him.

"But…that left when you took the vortex---"

"No, Rose, the Bad Wolf part is still inside you." The Doctor said.

He smiled when Rose stared at him confused.

"Here, why don't we go into the kitchen? I'll make us some tea and I'll explain everything that just happened."

Rose nodded. She hugged the Doctor tightly and he put his head in her hair breathing in her scent and loving it. After a moment, the four of them broke apart and the Doctor took Rose's hand as all of them walked out of the room towards the kitchen.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Rose, Martha and Donna stared at the Doctor in awe as he finished speaking. It had taken awhile to get through everything because not only did he tell Rose what the Bad Wolf had said, he also explained to Martha and Donna what had happened with the Bad Wolf previously.

"So, this Bad Wolf is inside me, has been inside me all my life?" Rose said.

The Doctor nodded as he took a sip of tea.

"Why me?" Rose said frowning.

The Doctor stared at her.

"What do you mean, why you?" he asked her.

"I'm nobody special."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Rose, how many times do I have to tell you differently? I understand perfectly why the Bad Wolf chose you. I can see it, Rose, why can't you?"

"Dunno, I guess because I just grew up a normal girl." Rose said shrugging.

"So? Lots of heroic people have had humble beginnings." The Doctor said to her. "Rose, you are worthy to have the Bad Wolf inside you, trust me."

"I can't believe you actually destroyed an entire Dalek army…or I guess you didn't, the Bad Wolf did…geez, this is confusing." Martha said.

"I just have to ask," Donna said. "If we piss off Rose, is she gonna go all god-like on us and knock our blocks off? Cause if she is, I wanna go back home."

"No, the Bad Wolf doesn't work like that. If pissing her off brought it out, I would have seen it before now."

"Why, you piss Rose off before?" Martha asked.

"Well, yeah, we do occasionally irritate each other." The Doctor said staring at her with wide eyes. "We're just like any other couple. You ever get irritated by someone you were in love with."

"Yeah, you irritated me lots of times." Martha replied.

She snickered when the Doctor shot her a look.

"You were in love with the Doctor?" Rose asked.

Martha coughed nervously.

"Yeah, I was when I first traveled with him." She said sheepishly. "I mean, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help falling in love with him. He's adorable."

"No argument there." Rose said taking a sip.

"I'm over him now though. I saw how useless it was to try to have a relationship with him. Of course, now that's been confirmed since apparently you are the Doctor's helpmate."

Rose giggled and poked the Doctor's side.

"Told ya you were never gonna get rid of me, didn't I?" she said.

"Yup, you've told me that approximately 5, 654, 666, 432 times now." The Doctor replied as Rose snickered.

Rose looked at Donna.

"What about you? You ever fancy the Doctor?" she asked her.

"No, I kinda lost interest the moment he referred to me as a pencil in a mug." Donna replied.

Rose stared at her for a moment and then looked at the Doctor.

"What?" she said to him.

The Doctor sighed.

"Okay, here's what we are going to do the minute we get back to the resort. We are all going into my room, shutting the door, ordering room service and then we are all setting down and bringing Rose Tyler up to speed on everything that has occurred since she left this universe." He said as the three women snickered. "I'm tired of getting these confused looks from her every two seconds and hearing "What?" after every other sentence. The confusion will be cleared up tonight, got that?"

"We're in for a long, long night." Donna said to Martha.

Martha glanced at Rose and then grinned at the Doctor.

"So, spilling the beans on everything includes the night we shared the bed in 1599?" she said with a devilish grin.

The Doctor blushed as Rose's jaw hit the table.

"You did what?" she said to the Doctor.

"Rose, it's not what you think!" the Doctor said.

"And the kiss we shared…or sorry…the genetic transfer in the hospital. That comes out in the open too?"

The Doctor coughed nervously as Rose glared at him.

"And there is the whole handling my knickers in my flat incident."

The Doctor froze as Rose leaned up next to him and breathed angrily on his face. Donna and Martha giggled as the Doctor turned and gave her a warm smile.

"I love you…helpmate?" he said nervously.

"Uh-huh, you better have a good explanation for what she just said, mister, or not even the Bad Wolf will be able to save you from me."

She sat back down as Martha and Donna laughed hysterically.

"Oh, Doctor, don't forget to tell her about putting the wedding ring on my finger." Donna said.

"DONNA, DAMN IT!" the Doctor said as Donna and Martha giggled.

He gulped as Rose leaned back up into his face and breathed angrily.

"Like I said, good explanations better be coming tonight, buster." She said.

The Doctor shook his head and muttered as Rose sat back down and grinned at Donna and Martha.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The concierge looked up as the Doctor and his companions entered the hotel.

"Sir, there you are, Rudolk informed me that you disappeared after he tried to show you to your rooms and you haven't been back until now. Is there a problem with the rooms?"

"No, no problem here, we did have a few problems elsewhere that we had to get straightened out." The Doctor replied as they walked up to the desk. "I fully intend to use the rooms."

The concierge beamed.

"Very good, sir." He said.

He noticed Rose.

"Is she going to be staying here as well?" he asked.

"Yes, she will be staying in my room. This one actually is with me." The Doctor said.

The concierge smiled.

"Very good, sir, then perhaps you would like me to tell you what is in the room that would interest you and your charming companion?"

Donna and Martha giggled as the Doctor blushed.

"No, that won't be necessary. I know what's in there." He said. "We would just like to be shown to our rooms again."

"Very good, sir. Rudolk!"

Rudolk came around the corner and stopped short.

"There they are." He said to the concierge.

The concierge nodded.

"Yes, they explained what happened. Everything is alright. They just need you to take them up to their rooms again." He said handing him the key cards.

"Are they going to go to the rooms this time?" Rudolk asked looking at them.

"Yes, we're going to the rooms this time if it kills us." The Doctor said to him.

Rudolk nodded.

"Follow me then, I'll show you to your rooms…again."

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"Ah, this is what I'm talking about." Donna said settling down on the big, plush bed in the Doctor's suite. My feet feel better already."

"So do mine." Martha said settling down beside her. "I'm all ready for a night of reminiscing."

"So am I. I really do wanna know everything that's gone on. I've missed traveling with the Doctor so much." Rose said as she sat down across from them.

"I bet. I know how you feel." Martha said. " I took a break to take care of my family after we battled the Master and I'm glad I did it, but just the same I was so glad to come back."

"I guess I'm different." Donna said. "The first time I traveled with the Doctor, I couldn't wait to get away from him…which I will explain later tonight, but the second time…I don't know, I figured after meeting the guy twice perhaps I was meant to travel with him…and now after hearing that Bad Wolf talk about how it isn't an accident who travels with him, I suppose it really was supposed to happen. Anyway, I don't regret doing it now. Despite the unpleasant bits, it's been a blast. I can understand why you wept when you saw the TARDIS."

"I missed her so much. I love my mum, but the Doctor and the TARDIS are my true life and they always will be."

"Because the Bad Wolf made it that way." Martha said.

Rose smiled.

"Yup, I was born to travel the universe." Rose replied.

"Yes, you were."

She looked over as the Doctor walked up to the bed.

"Hey, Casanova, you been out putting a wedding ring on the maid?"

The Doctor eyed her as the three women snickered.

"No, for your information, I was down ordering us food for the night. However, if you're gonna be an ass tonight, I can go back down and order them to take it back."

"No, no, that's fine. I'm hungry and I love their food here. I'll be a good little helpmate."

"Good." The Doctor said sitting down beside her.

Rose lay back and put her head in his lap. The Doctor stroked her hair as she settled in.

"So, we gonna get started then?" Rose asked glancing up at him.

The Doctor nodded.

"Yes, I ordered a lot of food so it'll take awhile to get up here and---"

"You ordered my chips, yeah?"

The Doctor sighed as Rose giggled.

"Yes, Rose, Rassilon help me if I forgot to order that." He said.

He shook his head at Donna and Martha.

"Woman is chip crazy." He said to them.

"P'eh, look who's talking."

"I got hooked on them because that's all you would get to eat most of the time. I had to eat something to keep from starving."

"Uh-huh, you just keep telling yourself that."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," he said. "I suppose we'll start right after the gap closed when I first met Donna…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose chewed on a chip and giggled as the Doctor threw up his hands in exasperation.

"I didn't want to sleep on the floor, that's why!" he said to Rose.

"You slept on the floor when we first met, so why are you suddenly climbing into bed with a woman you just met." She teased.

The Doctor eyed her.

"Because I knew someday we would reunite and I wanted to piss you off and make you jealous."

"That's not the best part though." Martha said to Rose. "He actually mentioned you and blew me off in a real, nasty insensitive way!"

"Really? What'd he say?" Rose said.

Martha told her. Rose's mouth fell open as the Doctor groaned.

"Bloody Hell, Doctor, how mean can you get?" she said to him.

"Well, it was the truth! You do know the right thing to say to me."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be a total arse saying that to Martha."

"THANK YOU!" Martha said throwing up her arms as Donna and Rose roared with laughter. "I am so glad you agree with me. God, it took all I had not to slap the insensitive git!"

They laughed hysterically as the Doctor's mouth fell open.

"Excuse me, Jones?" he said to her.

"You were, Doctor, you were insensitive to me. I barely knew ya and already you're going on about how I'm such a novice and oh, I'm so stupid I'll never be able to help you think like Rose can!"

Rose and Donna held their sides laughing as the Doctor put his arms over his chest.

"I didn't mean it like that." He said indignantly.

Well, that's what it sounded like to me. You made it sound like all you do is walk around in a daze saying "duh" until Rose here clues you in on what to do."

"Oh, he does, all the time." Rose said. "Thick as a log, he is."

"SHUT UP, TYLER!" The Doctor bellowed as the three women fell about laughing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose munched on a slice of bread as she stared at the Doctor.

"So, you were human." She said between bites.

"Yes, I was human."

"And you were unfaithful to me yet again."

The Doctor sighed as the three women giggled.

"Do I have to put a leash on ya and put blinders around your eyes to keep you faithful to me?" Rose asked.

"I didn't know who I was, Rose, I was John Smith!" he protested.

"Yeah, but you knew enough apparently to go drawing me in some book of yours which means that in the back of your head you were still thinking of me which means that you were cheating on me…yet again."

The Doctor eyed her as the three women giggled.

"You know, I'm starting to regret having this catch up session with you."

"I'm not. I find it enlightening. I'm finding out Reinette wasn't the exception to the rule here."

"Who's Reinette?" Donna asked.

Rose told them the story. When she finished they looked at him.

"Rose nearly got her head sliced off and you were getting drunk with some French whore?" Donna asked.

"Reinette wasn't a whore!" the Doctor yelled as the three women split their sides laughing.

"She wasn't eh, then what was she doing being a mistress to the king?" Donna said.

"Because that's what women aspired to in those days."

"They aspired to become royal French whores?"

The Doctor threw up his hands as the three women laughed.

"I didn't read about that tidbit in history class." Donna said to Martha and Rose as she reached for her bottle of juice.

"To be fair, Reinette was a nice woman." Rose said.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Rose."

Rose paused a moment.

"For a French whore." She muttered under her breath.

Martha and Donna laughed as the Doctor grabbed a handful of chips and tried to stuff them in her mouth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose stared intently at the Doctor.

"What?" the Doctor said.

"Nothing, just trying to picture you as an old geezer." Rose said.

She poked him in the arm.

"So I guess being old and decrepit was your excuse for making poor Martha walk around the bleedin' world then?" she said.

"Yes, I was depending on her to tell everyone she could about me so they could restore me to my young self again."

"And just grabbing the Master's laser screwdriver and reversing the setting, this thought never occurred to you." Rose said.

They giggled as the Doctor eyed her.

"Well, it would have been a more humane plan in my opinion than telling Martha to go walk the whole world. Poor girl, I'm surprised she didn't come back a skeleton. You must have dropped weight like mad!"

"Oh, I did, believe me." Martha said to her.

"Huh, so after you guys wrecked the paradox machine, everyone except you lot on the ship lost their memories about the whole thing. Gee, I wonder what happened to me in that time?"

"Knowing you, Donna," the Doctor said. "A Toclafane flew in your house trying to kill you and you shrieked at it and scared it away."

The Doctor's eyes widened as Donna let out a yell, leapt up and ran around the bed after him. Rose and Martha fell onto the bed laughing as the Doctor ran to the bathroom and locked the door as Donna pounded on the door screaming at the top of her lungs.

"LET ME IN, BUSTER, AND I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S THE BIGGER SHRIEKER IN HERE!" she screamed at him as she pounded on the door.

"FOR RASSILON SAKE, DONNA, STOP IT BEFORE THEY THROW US OUT!" They heard the Doctor scream.

Donna stopped pounding and walked back to the bed laughing as the Doctor opened the door a crack and looked out. Shaking his head, he walked out of the room as Donna grabbed some cheese and sat back down on the bed.

"Sheesh, suddenly, I'm wondering if it's a good idea to bring you three along in the TARDIS with me." He said as the three women laughed hysterically.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Finally, around five in the morning, everyone decided to retire for the night. Martha and Donna bid Rose and the Doctor good night and left to go to their room. Rose undressed and put on the nightgown that was provided for her by the resort. The Doctor remained in his suit since he wasn't planning to sleep. He lay down in the bed and put his hands behind his head as he listened to Rose getting ready for bed.

He smiled thinking of the Bad Wolf's words. It had always amazed him just how hard and fast he had fallen for Rose. He had never really wanted to get involved with his companions in the past knowing that their stay in the TARDIS would be temporary. But with Rose, he wasn't able to help himself from falling in love with her. He had never figured out just why he had been so eager to give his hearts to her, but now he knew the reason. The fact that Rose had been chosen to be with him filled him with an indescribable joy. She was his and his alone and for however long Rose Tyler had to be alive, he would treasure each and every moment with her.

He looked over and smiled lovingly as Rose came from the bedroom dressed in the fire engine red silk nightdress with black lace trimming. He sighed contentedly thinking how beautiful she looked. He came over to him, put her hand on his chest and leaned over for a kiss.

"You're not getting undressed?" she asked him.

"Nah, I'm not going to sleep. I don't need it right now." The Doctor said.

Rose frowned.

"You sure, after that walk?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"I've recovered from that. I'm just going to lie here and keep you company while you sleep."

Rose smiled and she gave him another kiss. Leaning back up, she fingered his blue jacket.

"I never saw you wear this before." She murmured as she stared at it.

"I didn't get it until after you left. I couldn't wear the brown suit for the longest time. It reminded me too much of you. I kinda like this suit now though." He said.

"I do too. Actually, I like you in both suits." She said.

She looked down at the floor beside the bed and picked up the burgundy trainers.

"These are nice too." She said. "Prettier than your plain white ones."

"Thanks, I thought they went well with the blue suit."

"They do." Rose said, putting them back down on the floor.

She sat down beside him and fingered his tie as the Doctor sighed softly.

"All that stuff I heard tonight. I missed out on so much." Rose murmured. "It makes me sorry I grabbed a hold of that lever."

"Don't say that, Rose. You did the right thing. You saved the Earth." The Doctor said taking her hand off his tie and holding it. "If it wasn't for you, there might have been a lot more death and destruction than there was. I'm proud of you for doing that."

Rose nodded.

"I know, I just…"

She sighed.

"I missed you so much. I missed out on so much. So many adventures you guys had without me."

"Well, now you're back and you and I can have all new adventures with Donna and Martha." The Doctor replied.

Rose nodded. The Doctor kissed the back of her hand and gave it a squeeze. He smiled when he saw Rose yawn.

"Come and get into bed. You need your rest." He said gently. "I'll be right here watching over you and Rassilon help anyone who tries to abduct you from this bed."

Rose giggled. She gave the Doctor one more kiss before getting up and walking around to the other side of the bed. The Doctor watched her adoringly as she pulled back the covers and got in beside him. She snuggled up beside him and the Doctor put his arm around her as she laid her head down next to his. For a few moments, they stared quietly into each other's eyes drinking in the warmth and love that was reflected in each pair of orbs. Then, Rose put her hand against the Doctor's chest as she lay her head closer to his face.

"I love you, Doctor." She murmured.

"I love you too, my Rose. I'll see you when you wake up."

Rose yawned and nodded. The Doctor watched with a small smile on his face as Rose closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon when Rose finally woke up. She opened her eyes and saw the Doctor was lying on his back beside her reading a newspaper.

"Well, there you are, sleepyhead." He said smiling at her. "I thought you were gonna sleep all day."

"Nah, I'm fine now. This place is so restful. I'm so glad you decided to come back here. I always sleep well when I'm here."

The Doctor nodded.

"It's not called a pleasure planet for nothing." He said.

She stared at the newspaper.

"Is that the local newspaper?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Complimentary copy. I was just perusing it while I was waiting for you to wake."

Rose leaned her head over and put it against the Doctor's shoulder as she looked at it. She read an article quietly and frowned.

"Where's…Hattori?" she asked the Doctor.

"A couple of planets away from here." He said.

"And this…Urajii went on a rampage there?" she said looking at him.

The Doctor looked over at the article she was reading and quickly scanned through it.

"Apparently so." He said when he finished reading.

"You know what Urajii are?"

She rolled her eyes when the Doctor looked at her.

"Yeah, of course you do, stupid question, sorry." Rose muttered as the Doctor chuckled.

"Urajii are these big bugs…kinda like…"

He rubbed his chin.

"Kinda like a cross between wasps and beetles. Beetle bodies with wasp wings and stingers."

"Ugh! I'm glad we've never run across them."

"Well, I have, actually. Not a very pleasant species." He said.

"Why were they on a rampage? Do you know?"

"Well, this is just a guess really, but judging from what I know of them, I think they were collecting food for their larva. See, they look like beetles, but their behavior is more along the lines of bees or wasps. They live in huge hives and occasionally they go on raids to gather food for their larva. They have these special pits that they throw their victims in and then they keep them alive with this special fungus because the larva prefer live victims. The larva need fresh blood, you see."

Rose made a face.

"Hattori is another resort planet although not as huge and fancy as Cocoleus Droxeminus. They've only been around for about a hundred years or so and was started as a kind of alternative to here, although they haven't been quite as successful with the tourist trade. Anyway, they don't have as many defenses as Cocoleus Droxeminus, which I suspect, is why the Urajii went there. You don't have to worry, Rose. Like I said, this planet can detect them coming and shoot them down long before they reach the surface.

"Well, that's a relief." Rose murmured.

They fell into silence as she read another article. Both of them read the paper together enjoying the fact that they were near one another. The silence was broken, however, when they heard a knock on the door.

"Doctor, Rose, you guys up yet?" they heard Donna say.

The Doctor sat the paper down and headed towards the door. He opened the door.

"Yup, we're both awake," he said. "Come in."

Donna and Martha entered. They paused when they saw Rose.

"I guess you just woke up then?" Martha said to her.

Rose frowned and then looked down at her nightdress.

"Oh, yeah, I did." She said, blushing. "Sorry, I'll get dressed."

She got up and headed towards the bathroom. As she shut the door, Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor.

"We were just wondering what was on the agenda today, or if there even was an agenda." Donna asked.

"Well, depends on what you want to do. This planet has just about everything you can think of." The Doctor replied.

"How about we go eat lunch at the Purple Pearl, Doctor?" Rose said through the door.

The Doctor smiled.

"Now there's an idea." He said. "You hungry?"

Donna and Martha looked at each other and shrugged.

"I could go for a bite of something." Donna said.

"Yeah, that sounds alright." Martha added.

"The Purple Pearl is great, guys." Rose said through the door. "It's got some of the best food in the galaxy. The Doctor and I always eat there when we visit."

The Doctor nodded.

"Five star rating. Very exclusive. Kinda hard to get in, but it's not a problem for us. I just flash my psychic paper at the hostess and boom, she shows us to a table."

Donna and Martha glanced at each other.

"What do you show her?" Martha asked.

"It depends, but usually I pretend I'm an ambassador to some distant planet or something. Works every time." He said shrugging. "So, you interested."

They glanced over as Rose came out, fully dressed.

"Come on, guys, it's great. You'll love it." She said walking over to the Doctor's side.

Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"Okay." Martha said as Donna nodded.

The Doctor and Rose beamed.

"Follow us then and we'll take you to it." He said as Rose squealed in delight.

Donna opened the door and all of them walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"See, I told ya I could get us in." the Doctor said as the hostess walked away.

Martha and Donna glanced around the room. It was a huge, crowded, noisy room. The walls were painted an off white color and the ceiling curved up above them into a dome. The lights were dimmed giving it an intimate feel. The wall beside them was a huge aquarium and bizarre fish of various colors and sizes swam around in it. Donna and Martha both stared at it in wonder. At the bottom of the tank sat an enormous purple pearl.

"I guess that's where the place gets its name?" Martha asked the Doctor as she pointed to it.

"Yup, it comes from a Brallus. A huge species of clam that's found on several planets in the galaxy. The pearls they make are normally that huge, but most are white or gold. Purple ones are extremely rare and very valuable." He said.

"I love it." Donna said. "Too bad you'd probably need a crane to nick it."

They looked over as a woman came to their table.

"Hello, I'm Leeta and I'll be your waitress for today." She said passing out menus to them and pulling a small disc out of her pocket. "Can I start you off with something?"

Martha and Donna opened the menus and looked through it as Rose smiled at the waitress.

"I'd like a glass of Rullet and an order of Eros balls." She said as Leeta entered that into the disc.

She looked at the Doctor.

"I'd like the same to drink." The Doctor said smiling at her.

"Appetizer, sir?"

"No, I'll split Rose's Eros balls with her." He said to her.

The waitress nodded and glanced at Donna.

"And what would you like?" she asked her.

Donna stared at the menu with wide-eyed confusion.

"The Doctor to translate, that's what I'd like," Donna muttered to herself.

The Doctor sighed as Rose giggled.

"How about you two just get what Rose is getting at the moment and that'll give me time to explain the menu choices to you." He said to her and Martha.

The two women glanced at each other.

"Okay, we'll have what she's having." Donna said pointing at Rose as Martha nodded in agreement.

The Waitress nodded as she entered it on the disc.

"I'll be back shortly." She said putting the disc back in her pocket.

Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor as she walked away.

"Okay, what the hell are Rullet and Eros balls?" Donna asked him.

"Rullet is this alcoholic drink made from this fruit that kinda tastes like oranges. God, it's good." Rose said. "And Eros is…"

She looked at the aquarium and pointed to a green and gold fish swimming near the top.

"That." She said as Donna and Martha looked at it. "It's Eros meat that's been rolled into a little ball and fried up in this breading. It is so good. Trust me, you guys will love it."

Donna and Martha looked at each other.

"Doesn't sound too bad." Martha said.

"No, the Rullet stuff sounds really good, actually. It's alcoholic, you say?"

"Yes, but, I'm telling you right now, you aren't getting more than two glasses. I'm not having you walk around all day pissed out of your mind." The Doctor said.

"I didn't say that!" Donna shrieked at him as the others laughed. " I wasn't thinking of getting drunk, I was just clarifying that it was alcoholic, geez!"

The Doctor winked at Rose as he took his menu and quickly explained what was in the different dinners.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was delicious." Martha said as they walked back to the resort. "The Rullet and the Eros balls were good and I loved the Inara meat and the Sopa peas."

"Yeah, me too and the Wyan meat sandwich was good too."

"Told ya guys you would like it." Rose said looking back at them. "One of my favorite places to eat."

"You oughta put together your own restaurant guide then." Martha said to her.

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea." She said as the Doctor chuckled. " The Tyler Universal Gourmet Guide. I like the sound of that."

"You'd have to acknowledge me in the forward." The Doctor said. "I'm the one who showed you all those restaurants in the first place."

"Oh, alright, if I must." She said rolling her eyes.

She giggled when the Doctor poked her in the side.

They walked on in silence. As they neared the resort, they all froze as a familiar figure came around the side of the building towards them.

"Triton." The Doctor said stepping in front of the others.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"Get behind me." The Doctor said to the three women.

He glared at Triton as he came forward. Instinctively, his hand reached back to Rose's side shielding her from danger. Triton stopped and stared at her in shock.

"She's been restored." He said in awe.

"Yes, no thanks to you." The Doctor spat out.

"But…how?"

The Doctor hesitated a moment. He decided that the Bad Wolf should remain a secret between the four of them.

"I restored her." He said.

Rose glanced up at him, but said nothing, understanding what he was doing.

Triton stared at him.

"How did you do this?" he asked.

The Doctor smiled at him.

"I'm clever." He said.

"Tell me how you did it."

"It doesn't matter how I did it, what matters is Rose is her old self again."

He gritted his teeth.

"And by Rassilon, I dare you to harm her again." He said balling his fist up.

"Wait, Doctor, I did not come here to fight." Triton said holding up his hand. "I wish to make amends for what I did."

The Doctor unclenched his fist, but he still looked at him warily.

"Go on," he said. "Talk, I'm listening."

"I was wrong, Doctor. I harmed an innocent woman because I wanted revenge for what you did to our world, but what I did was just as bad as your destruction."

The Doctor said nothing.

"We Arcadians are not evil, Doctor." Triton insisted.

"I never said you were, if you were evil I never would have tried to protect your planet." The Doctor replied. "And I understand how you feel, I really do. But, what you did to Rose was unconscionable. Making an innocent woman suffer doesn't solve anything."

"I realize that now, Doctor." Triton replied. "I hope that she can forgive me. I was blinded by my lust for vengeance as all my people were. It took my brother to bring me to my senses. He could see what I could not. That revenge only breeds more revenge that continues on and on in a vicious never-ending cycle."

The Doctor nodded.

"Which is why I choose not to take revenge and believe me, I have lots of reasons to take it. My lives have been filled with more injustices than I can count, but I decided long ago to just walk away and move on because if I decided to get back at everyone who has ever wronged me, I wouldn't have any kind of a life. Which is what is happening to you and your people. You are caught in the hatred of the past and by choosing to obsess on it instead of letting it go, you are letting the past rule your future. I'm not making light of anything that happened in the Time War, but don't you think all that time you spent hunting me down could have put to better use rebuilding your homes and your families? Your people are smarter than this, Triton. Let go of petty grudges and rebuild your civilization back to its former glory."

Triton nodded.

"You are right, Time Lord. That is exactly what we will do. We have spent too long seeking retribution. Our race is dying out. It is time to settle down and rebuild our lives."

The Doctor smiled.

"Then, I wish you and your people all the best." He said. "All of you deserve a second chance, go and take back what the Daleks stole from you. Let the Arcadian empire live again."

Triton smiled and nodded. He looked at Rose.

"I hope you will forgive me, Rose Tyler, I had no right to do that to you."

"I forgive you." Rose replied. "I don't hold any grudges either."

Triton smiled and nodded.

"And now, Doctor, I must take my leave. I wanted to find you to apologize and restore Rose Tyler to normal, but I see that's already been taken care of."

"Yup, little ol me sorted that part out." The Doctor said.

"Will you tell me how you did it?"

"Nah, I don't like giving away my secrets. Time Lord secrecy and all that."

Triton nodded.

"Very well, I bid you all a good day."

The Doctor nodded. They watched as Triton stepped back, spoke into his communicator and the tractor beam came down. They shielded their eyes as it vanished taking Triton along with it.

"Right," the Doctor said slapping his hands. "Who's up for a nice round of shuffleboard?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(One week later…)

"Oh my God!" Rose said holding her hand over her heart. "It's gorgeous."

The Doctor had kept his promise to bring them back to Gargumenta and Rose stood outside the TARDIS staring in awe at the mountains in front of them.

"Told you they were a sight to behold." The Doctor said stepping out behind her.

Donna and Martha followed him out and stared at them in awe.

"Oh God, I love the view." Martha said. "You're right, the place really is gorgeous."

"And best of all, it's quiet. No explosions around." Donna said.

"Well, come on, help me get the tents set up before nightfall." The Doctor said.

All of them turned and went back into the TARDIS.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's called KMX-YT 16." The Doctor said.

Rose nodded as she looked through the telescope at the star. All of them sat together on a blanket taking turns looking through the telescope at the clear night sky. She looked for a moment and then scooted aside to let Martha see. Martha stared at it for a moment and then let Donna look.

Rose looked up at the mountain range rising up above them in the darkness. She felt the Doctor scoot up beside her and she leaned her head against his shoulder as he took hold of her hand.

"Any specific place you wanna go after this?" the Doctor murmured to her.

"Anywhere is fine with me." Rose replied. "I'm just excited to be back that I don't care where we go or what we do."

The Doctor nodded.

"You know, Martha and I started a new game." He said to her.

"What game is that?"

"Well, she gives me three random numbers and I use those as the coordinates and we go to whatever comes up."

"Wow, sounds foolish and dangerous." Rose said.

She smiled at him.

"I like it." She said as he chuckled.

"Good, then we'll start doing that regularly. Makes it more interesting for me." He said.

He looked at her for a moment.

"I also want to ask you something." He said.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Well, since you were destined to be my helpmate, I figure I should start teaching you a bit more about the TARDIS and how to fly it." He said.

Rose's eyes widened.

"You'll let me fly the TARDIS?" she said.

The Doctor stared at the eager look in her eyes.

"Under my supervision, of course, don't start thinking you can just take my ship off on joyrides whenever you feel like it."

"Drat."

She giggled as the Doctor swatted her head.

"And…" he said.

Rose looked at him expectantly.

"I want to teach you Gallifreyan. How to speak, read and write it." He said. "I am the last of my kind and I hate being the last living speaker of my language. If you are my equal then you should know it as well."

Rose beamed.

"I want to learn, Doctor. Please teach me."

The Doctor smiled.

"It's difficult to learn, especially the writing of it. You've seen what it looks like on my monitor. Those circles must be written in precisely the right place or it throws the whole meaning off. It's extremely tricky."

"Yeah, but I love a challenge. Bring it on!"

"Okay, you asked for it." The Doctor said.

"Um…"

He looked at Rose.

"Yes?"

"Well, I've always wanted to know more about Gallifrey, it's history. Do you happen to have any books I could read about that?"

The Doctor nodded.

"As a matter of fact I do. I have a couple of huge books you can look through if you want."

He grinned as Rose let out a "Yes!"

"The Bad Wolf really did instill you with a love of learning, didn't she?"

"Too right she did, you don't tell me enough as it is, so believe me, I'm gonna jump on the chance to learn more about you and your life."

"What about me?" Donna asked. "Can I learn how to fly the TARDIS too?"

"No, piss off, you're not special enough!"

Rose and Martha laughed as Donna flipped him off.

"But, if you want to learn Gallifreyan, I'll teach that to you." He said.

Donna frowned.

"Um, I was useless when it came to learning foreign languages. I tried French once and nearly tied my tongue in a knot trying to speak it."

"I'd like to learn, Doctor. I love learning other languages."

The Doctor nodded.

"Alright, I'd be happy to teach it to you."

Martha looked at Rose.

"Then, once we get good enough and learn all the swear words, we can call Donna foul names in front of her."

"Oh well then, on second though, sign me up for lessons too!" Donna said as Rose and Martha laughed. "If my friends are gonna start calling me a bitch in Gallifreyan, I'd like to know about it."

"How do you say bitch in Gallifreyan?" Rose asked the Doctor.

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"Um…well, the closest that comes to it is Minoto which roughly translates as Deros spawn.

"And Deros is…" Rose said.

"A dog-like creature. But, it's a wild dog. We didn't domesticate them."

"Minoto!" Rose said pointing her finger at Donna.

"Oi!" she said as Rose and Martha giggled. "Don't call me Minoto, you Minoto!"

"I'm not a Minoto, you're the Minoto!" Rose shot back.

"Alright, you two, settle down or I won't teach you anything more." The Doctor said rolling his eyes as the three women giggled.

He shook his head as Rose laid his head back on his shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rose, Donna, Martha wake up!"

The three women stirred in the tent and looked sleepily at the Doctor who was poking his head inside the flap.

"It's happening, come outside now." He said to them.

The three women quickly woke up and scrambled to come out of the tent. The Doctor stepped aside as they all came outside and looked at the morning sunlight hitting the snow-capped peaks.

"Oh my God," Rose said breathlessly as she stared at it. "You're right, Doctor, the snow does sparkle."

"Told ya."

He smiled as the three women stared at the sight in awe. He put his hands in his pockets and watched with them.

"Oh God, I love it." Rose murmured.

She felt tears come to her eyes. The Doctor walked over to her.

"Rose, what is it?"

She smiled as tears of joy ran down her face.

"I'm so glad I'm back with you, Doctor, I missed sights like this."

The Doctor beamed, he put his arm around Rose's shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad you're back too." He said. "And this time you are never gonna leave me again."

"Never say never---"

The Doctor slammed his hand over her mouth.

"Utter that phrase and you're dead, Tyler." He said as Rose giggled through his hand.

He took his hand away and hugged her against him. All of them stood beside each other watching as the sun came up on a new day. A new day filled with new possibilities and new adventures for four time traveling friends.

THE END.

A/N: The adventures of the Doctor, Rose, Martha and Donna continue in the sequel, The Zombie Bride.


End file.
